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23  WBT  MAIN  STREET 

WEbSTER.N.Y.  MS80 

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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

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D 


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J 


D 


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Coloured  covers/ 
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I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


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□    Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
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I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


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D 
D 
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0 
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n 
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26X 

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16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thvinks 
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L'exemplaire  film*  fut  reproduit  grAce  A  la 
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Harold  Campbell  Vaughan  Memorial  Library 
Acadia  Univenity 


> 


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sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  originaJ  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —^(meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
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right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  etS  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
de  la  nettet*  de  l'exemplaire  film«,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimAe  sont  filmte  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'.'mpression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  film^s  en  commenpant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
derniAre  Image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUiVRE  ",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc..  peuvent  dtra 
film^s  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffirents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  11  est  film*  A  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite. 
6t  da  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n^cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
iliustrent  la  m6thode. 


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PROPHETIC 


VOICES 


1^7^ 


CONC'ERMNG       u 


AMERICA. 


A  MONOGRAPH. 


BY 


CHARLES    SUMNER. 


■'";» 

•'^. 


X(t 


I  have  a  far  other  and  far 
vision,  but  I  will  cherish  it. 
frozen  North  in  unbroken  line 
tlie  Atlantic  westward  to  the 
people,  anil  one  law,  and  one 
tinent,  the  home  of  freedom, 
every  dime.  —  John  Bkioht, 
bi/  liogers.  Vol.  I.  p.  225. 


brighter  vision  before  my  gaze.  It  may  be  but  a 
I  see  one  vast  confederation  stretching  from  the 
to  the  glowing  South,  and  from  the  wild  billows  of 
calmer  waters  of  the  Pacific  main, — and  I  see  one 
language,  and  one  faith,  and,  over  all  that  wide  con- 
and  a  refuge  for  the  ojjprcssed  of  every  race  and  of 
Speech  at  Birmingham,  December  18,  1802 :  Speeches 


BOSTON: 
LEE  AND  SHEPARD,  PUBLISHERS 

NEW  YORK: 

LEE,   SHEPARD,   AND  DILLINGHAM. 

1874. 


Knterod  fti-conliii},'  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  yonr  1874, 

nV    FliANCIS    V.     [iAI.(  H,     F.XICCUTOJ!, 

in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


rp, 


University  Prf.ss:  Wrixh,  Bicjklow,  &  Co., 

CAMnRIDGE. 


I 


Tins  Tnonoujra])li  ajipoared  ori,<j;in;>lly  in  tlie  "  At- 
lanti(',  ^lontlily."  It  is  now  revised  and  enlarged. 
Tn  tlie  celebration  (jf  onr  hundredth  hirthday  a.s  a 
nation,  now  last  approaciiing,  these  ])i'o])hetie  voices 
will  he  heard,  teaching  how  niucl.i  ol"  present  fame 
and    ])0wer    was     foreseen,    also   what   remains    to    ho, 

accomplished. 

C.  S. 


4^ 


Ili^torv  'iliows  fhiit  tlio  ri'ilizatinn  on  wliirli  wo  dopond  i*  nilijoct  to  ti 
ficiicral  law  uliicli  iimUfs  it  juiinu'v  liy  liiilts,  in  tlio  iiiHiiiicr  (if  aruiii's,  in 
the  (liivcti'iM  lit'  tiic  OcH'iiicnt,  nialiin};  tlu^  scoptrc  pa-^s  succossivciy  into 
the  iiiimls  of  uiitions  niurc  wortliv  to  liolil  it,  more  strong  and  more  aldn 
to  cmplny  it  I'll)-  till'  general  j^ood. 

So  it  M'tMiw  tJKit  the  Miprcnic  aiitliority  i»  about  to  escnpo  from  Wt^^tcni 
and  (Vntral  lliiropf,  to  pM>s  to  tiu-  Now  World.  In  tiuf  nortiit-rn  part  of 
tiiat  otlicr  iicnM^plicrc  oIlMioots  of  tlit!  Kiiropcaii  rnro  liavc  foimdcil  a  vig- 
orous society  full  of  sa]i,  wlioso  inlluciu'c  grows  witli  a  rapiility  that  lias 
never  yet  lieen  seen  aiiywliert!.  In  erossing  the  (n-ean  it  lias  left  lieliind 
on  tlie  soil  of  old  Kiiro|)e  traditions,  prejuiliecs,  and  \isages  which,  its 
inipoliiiiiiilK  heavy  to  move,  would  have  einhaiTUSsed  its  movements  and 
retarded  its  progressive  march.  In  about  thirty  years  the  I'nited  States 
will  iiave,  accia'diiig  to  all  probability,  a  hundred  millions  of  poiiulatioii,  in 
possession  of  the  most  powerful  means,  distributed  over  a  territory  which 
would  make  France  lifteen  or  sixteen  t-mes  over,  and  of  the  most  wonderful 
dis|,ositi()n.  .  .  . 

Vainly  do  the  occidental  and  central  nations  of  Kuropo  attribute  to  them- 
selves a  priuiiicy  which,  in  their  vanity,  thev  think  sheltered  from  events 
anil  eternal ;  as  if  there  were  anything  eternal  in  the  grandem-  and  prosperity 
of  societies,  the  works  of  men  I  —  Mtchkl  Ciikvamki!,  Ii(ij)jior(s  du  Jury 
Intenmtiond:  ExposUliin  i'ninrsillv  (it  lb67  d /'«)•/.«,  Tom.  I.,  pp.  dxiv. - 
dxvi. 

America,  and  especially  Snxon  America,  with  its  immense  virgin  terri- 
tories, with  its  reptiblic' with  its  eriuilibrium  between  stability  and  pro- 
gress, with  its  harmonv  between  liberty  and  democracy,  is  the  continent  of 
The  future,  —the  immi'iise  contiueut  stretcheil  by  (iod  between  the  Atlantic 
and  I'a-itic.  where  mankind  mav  jiiant,  essay,  and  resolve  all  social  prob- 
lems, {/jrnl  rlncrs.]  Kurope  has  to  decide  whether  she  will  conluuiid 
herself  with  Asia,  jilacing  upon  her  lands  old  altars,  and  upon  the  altars  old 
idols,  and  upon  the  idols  immovable  theocrnc  ies,  and  upon  the  theocracies 
despotic  empires,  or  whether  she  will  go  i)y  labor,  by  liberty,  and  by  the  re- 
public, to  ( v)lIaborate  with  America  iii  the  grand  work  of  universal  civiliza- 
tion. —  Kmilio  Castklak,  i>peech  in  the  Spanish  Cortts,  June  22,  1871. 


'1 

4 


MONOGRAPH. 


e  rc- 
lizii- 


i' 


rfHIK  discovery  of  Aiiierit\i  1)y  Christopher  C()hnnl)us 
J-  is  tlie  ^'reatest  event  of  secuhir  history.  JJesides 
the  i)f)tiito,  the  turkey,  and  maize,  whicli  it  introduced 
at  once  for  tlit,'  nourishment  and  condbrt  of  the  Ohl 
World,^  and  also  tohacco,  wliich  only  hlind  passion  for 
the  weed  could  ]»la('e  in  the  beneficent  grou]),  this  dis- 
covery opened  the  door  to  iidluences  infinite  in  extent 
and  beneKcenci!.  ^Meiisure  them,  describe  them,  ])icture 
them,  yon  cannrjt.  While  yet  unknown,  ima,t,dnation 
invested  this  continent  with  ])roverbial  maifni licence. 
It  was  the  Orient  and  the  land  of  Cathay.  AVhen  after- 
wards it  took  a  ])la('e  in  j^eof^raphy,  imagination  found 
another  field  in  trying'  to  portray  its  future  history.  If 
the  (lolden  A^i^e  is  before,  and  not  behind,  as  is  now 
happily  the  prevailing  faith,  then  indeed  must  America 
share  at  least,  if  it  does  not  monopolize,  the  promised 
good. 

Iiefore  the  voyage  of  Columbus  in  1402,  nothing  of 
America  was  really  known.     Scanty  scraps  from  antiq- 

1  In  tho  Dcsrriptinn  nf  Kiifrliind,  jjrofixod  to  Tlolinslied's  Clirnniclo^  iiml 
(luted  l')^T).  niip  of  tlu'«o  jrifts  is  inoiition(>(l ;  "  Of  the  pntiito  and  snrh  vono- 
rnns  roots  ns  two  brought  out  of  Spain,  Portiitial,  nnd  tho  Tndips  to  fnnii-li 
up  our  hiiiiquots,  I  spoak  not."  Introduction,  Book  II.,  Chap.  VI.,  Vol.  I. 
p.  281.     (London,  1807.) 

1  A 


2  rUOplIKTIC   VOICES   CONC'KHNINf}   AMKKICA. 

uity,  vnf^'ue  rumors  from  tlio  resound  in;,'  ocean,  and  tlic 
liesitatiii;,'  speculations  of  science,  were  all  that  the  in- 
spired navii^aUn*  found  to  guide  him.  Foremost  amonj,' 
these  were  the  well-known  verses  (}f  Seneca,  so  interest- 
ing from  ethical  genius  and  a  tragical  death,  in  the  cho- 
rus of  his  "  Medea,"  whicii  for  generations  had  heen  the 
finger-point  to  an  undiscovered  world. 

"  .  .  .  .  vcnicnt  luinis 
Seculii  scris  <iuil)ii.s  Occiuius 
ViiK'\ilii  rcniiii  Iiixot,  ct  injioiis 
Ptiteat  tcllus,  Tipliys  que  novos 
Dctegtit  orl)os,  nee  sit  tcrris 
Ultima  Thulu."  l 

These  verses  are  vague  and  lofty  rather  than  specific ; 
hut  Bacon,  after  setting  them  forth,  says  of  them,  "A 
jn'ophecy  of  the  discovery  of  America"  ;  and  this  they 
may  well  be,  if  we  adopt  the  translation  of  Archbishop 
Whately,  in  his  notes  to  the  Essay  on  Prophecies : 
"  There  shall  come  a  time  in  later  ages,  when  ocean 
shall  relax  his  chains  and  a  vast  continent  appear,  and 
a  pilot  shall  find  new  worlds,  and  Thule  shall  be  no 
more  earth's  bound."  Fox,  turning  from  statesmanship 
to  scholarship,  wrote  to  Wakefield  :  ^  "  The  prophecy  in 
Seneca's  '  !Medea '  is  very  curious  indeed."  Irving  says 
of  it :  "  Wonderfully  apposite,  and  shows,  at  least,  how 
nearly  the  warm  imagination  of  a  poet  may  a])proach  to 
prophecy.  The  predictions  of  the  ancient  oracle  were 
rarely  so  unequivocal."  ^  These  verses  were  adopted  by 
Irving  as  a  motto  on  the  title-page  of  the  revised  edi- 
tion of  his  "  Life  of  Columbus." 

1  Act  II.,  V.  371. 

2  June  20,  1800.    Memorials  and  Correspondence,  by  Lord  John  Russell, 
Vol.  IV.  p.  393. 

8  Life  of  Columbus,   Appendix,  No.  XXII.,   authoi*'s  revised  edition, 
Vol.  III.  p.  402. 


I 


IL 


I'UOPin-.TK:   VOICES   (*ONCKnXIN(T    AMKIMCA. 


'^ 


edi- 


issell, 


Four,  if  not  more,  copies  are  extant  in  tlu'  nmloulituil 
liiindwritin;;  of  Culunildis,  —  pivfious  aut(i,m'iiiilis  to 
tcnii»t  collectors;  l\\(»  in  his  work  on  tlio  IMoiilici-ies, 
another  in  a  letter  to  (,)ueen  Isabella,  and  still  an- 
^itiier  entered  among  his  (thservat ions  ol' lunar  eclipses 
at  ilayti  and  Jamaica.  Wy  these  the  great  admiral 
sailed,  llundioldt  has  preserved  a  copy  in  the  follow- 
ing qucstionalde  form,  witiiont  even  mentioning  the 
variation  in  ]>rosody  and  in  an  important  word  from 
the  received  text:  — 

"  Vciiicnt  miiiio  sorula  soris 
(^iiil>ii-i  (K-fiiiuis  viiiciilii  ronim 
Liixt't  ct  in^'t'iiH  |iatf:it  tflliis 
Tillnjit  quo  iiovos  dctfj^nt  orhos 
Nee  sit  terris  iiltiiiiii  Tliulf." 

This  is  move  curious,  as  the  versos  are     orrcct  in  the 
letter  of  Cohunlais,  preserved  hy  Navarn    e,^ 

The  sympathetic  an»l  authoritative  commentator,  who 
has  illustrated  the  enterprise  witii  all  that  classical  or 
mediieval  literature  alfords,'*^  declares  his  conviction 
that  the  di.scovery  of  a  new  (;ontinent  was  more  com- 
pletely foreshadowed  in  the  simj)le  geogra]>lii(!al  state- 
ment of  the  Cireek  Straho,  who,  after  a  long  life  of 
travel,  .sat  down  in  tlie  eighty-fourtli  year  of  his  age,  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Augustus,  to  write  the  geography  of  the 
world,  including  its  cosmography.  In  this  work,  where 
are  gathered  tlie  results  of  ancient  study  and  ex])erience, 
the  venerable  author,  after  alluding  to  the  possil>ility 
of  passing  direct  from  Spain  to  India,  and  explaining 
that  the  inhabited  world  is  that  which  we  inhabit  and 
know,  thus  lifts  the  curtain:  "There   may  be  in  the 

^  Coleccion  rle  los  Vi!ipp«  y  Dosciibrimiontn.e,  Tom.  II.  p.  272. 
2  Hnmholdt,  Exann'ti  critique  de  la  ^('ngrapliic,  Tom.   I.  pp.  101,  102. 
Soe  also  HumhokU,  Kosinos,  Vol.  M.  pp.  510,  556,  557,  645. 


4  PROniETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 

same  tL'mperato  zone  two  and  imhrd  wore  inJuthifcd 
/(uuls,  especially  nearest  the  parallel  of  Tliinie  or 
Athens,  prolonged  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean."  ^  This 
was  the  voice  of  ancient  science. 

liefore  the  voyage  of  Colinnl)Us  two  Italian  poets 
seem  to  have  heheld  the  unknown  world.  The  first  was 
JVti-arca  ;  iior  was  it  unnatural  that  his  exquisite  genius 
should  reach  behind  the  veil  of  Time,  as  where  he  pic- 
tures 

"  Tlie  flayliirlit  liMstoning  with  wiiiircl  stojjs 
rc'rclianco  to  frladdeu  tlio  cxiu'ctiiiit  oyos 
Of  far-off  ntnions  in  a  worlil  remote."'  2 

Tlie  other  was  Pulci,  who,  in  his  Morfjnnte  Mafjfjiorc, 
sometimes  called  the  last  of  the  romances  and  the  earli- 
est of  Italian  epics,  reveals  an  undiscovered  world  be- 
yond the  Pillars  of  Hercules. 

"  Know  tliJit  tliis  theory  is  false;  his  hark 
Tii(!  (lariiiii  mariner  sliail  urge  far  o'er 
Tiie  western  wave,  a  suiootii  and  level  plain, 
Albeit  the  earth  is  fashioned  like  a  wheel. 
Man  was  in  aneieiit  days  of  p;rosser  mould. 
And  Hercules  might  hlush  to  learn  iiow  far 
Reyond  the  limits  he  had  vainly  set 
The  dullest  sen-boat  soon  shall  wing  her  way. 

"  Men  shtiH  (hscrij  another  hemisphere, 
Since  to  one  common  centre  all  things  tend; 
So  earth,  by  curious  mystery  divine 
Well  balanced,  hangs  amid  the  starry  spheres. 
At  (iiir  Anfi/xxles  are  cities,  stntes, 
All'/  thronrji'd  empires,  ne'er  dirined  of  yore. 
Rut  see,  the  sun  speeds  on  his  western  path 
To  glad  the  nations  with  expected  light."  3 

This  translation  is  by  our  own   eminent   historian, 

1  Lib.  I.  p.  65;  Lib.  II.  p.  118. 

'^  "  .  .  .  .  che  M  di  nostro  vola 

A  gente,  che  di  lii  forse  1'  aspetta." 

Canzone  IV. 
s  Canto  XXV.  st.  229.  230. 


I  t    t 


PIJOPIIETIC   VOICES   CONCEHNIXr;    AMERICA. 


5 


Prescott,  wIh)  first  ealk-d  attention  to  the  testimony,' 
wliicli  is  not  incnlioned  even  l)y  l[iunboldt.  Leii^li 
Hunt  rel'eiTed  to  it  at  a  later  day.^  Pulci  was  born  in 
Florence,  14ol,  and  died  there,  14(S7,  five  years  hetbre 
(  Vdiinibns  sailed,  so  that  he  was  not  aided  by  any  rumor 
ul"  the  discovery  he  so  distinctly  predicts. 


■'■J& 


frian, 


Passing'  from  the  great  event  which  j^ave  a  new  world 
not  only  to  8i)ain  but  to  civilized  man,  it  may  not  be  un- 
interesting to  collect  some  of  the  ])rophetic  voices  con- 
cerning the  future  of  America  and  the  vast  untblding  of 
our  continent.  Tliev  will  have  a  lesson  also.  Seeing 
what  has  been  fulfilled,  we  mav  better  indue  what  to 
expect.  I  shall  set  them  forth  in  the  order  of  tinu', 
prefacing  each  prediction  with  an  account  of  tlie  author 
sufticient  to  exjdain  its  origin  and  character.  If  some 
are  already  ftimiliar,  others  are  little  known.  Brought 
together  in  one  body,  on  the  princij>le  of  our  national 
Union,  E  2)luribHS  u/ium,  they  nuist  give  new  confidence 
in  the  destinies  of  the  Pepublie. 

Only  what  has  been  said  sincer<dy  l)y  those  whose 
M'ords  are  important  deserves  ])lace  in  such  a  collection. 
Oracles  had  ceased  befor<>  our  history  began,  so  that  wo 
meet  no  responses  paltering  in  a  double  sense,  like  tlie 
deceptive  re])lies  to  Crcesus  and  to  Pyrrhus ;  nor  any 
sayings  which,  according  to  the  quaint  language  of  8ir 
Thomas  Prowne,  "seem  (piodlibetically  constituted,  and, 
like  a  Delphian  blade,  will  cut  both  ways."^  In  Pa- 
con's  Essay  on  Prophecies  there  is  a  latitude  not  to  be 
followed.     ."Xot  fable  or  romance,  but  history,  is  the  true 


1  Hi^itorv  of  Eordiiinnd  ami  Tsubolln,  Vol.  II.  pp.  117,  118. 

2  Stories  from  the  Itnliiiii  I'oet",  p.  171. 

8  Works,  Vol.  IV.  p.  81  (edit.  IMckeriug),  Ciirisiian  Morals. 


6  PIlOniETIG   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 

authority,  and  here  experience  and  genius  are  tl\e  liglits 
by  which  our  prophets  have  walked.  Doubtless  tliere  is 
a  dillerence  in  human  faculties.  Men  who  have  lived 
nnich  and  felt  strongly  see  further  than  others.  Their 
vision  penetrates  the  future.  Second  sight  is  little  more 
than  clearness  of  sight.     Milton  tells  us 

"  That  old  experience  does  attain 
To  something  like  prophetic  strain." 

Sometimes  this  strain  is  attained  even  in  youth.  But 
here  Genius  with  di'iup  power  lifts  the  curtain  and 
sweeps  the  scene. 

The  elder  Disraeli  in  his  "  Curiosities  of  Litera- 
ture "  has  a  chapter  on  "  Prediction,"  giving  curious 
instances,  among  which  is  that  of  liousseau,  at  the  close 
of  the  third  book  of  "Emile,"  wliere  he  says,  "We  ap- 
proach a  condition  of  crisis  and  the  age  of  revolutions."  ^ 
Our  own  IJevolution  was  then  at  hand,  soon  followed 
by  that  of  France.  The  settlement  of  America  was  not 
without  auguries  even  at  the  beginning. 

A  PROPHETIC  GROUP. 

Before  passing  to  the  more  serious  examples  T  bring 
into  group  a  few,  marking  at  least  a  poet's  apprecia- 
tion of  the  newly  discovered  country,  if  not  a  prophetic 
spirit.  The  muse  was  not  silent  at  the  various  reports. 
As  early  as  1595,  Chapman,  famous  as  the  translator  of 
Hijmer,  in  a  poem  on  Guiana,  thus  celebrates  and  com- 
mends the  unknown  land :  — 

"  Guiana,  whose  rich  feet  are  mines  of  j^old, 
Whose  forehead  knocks  against  the  roof  of  stars, 
Stands  on  her  tiptoe  at  fair  England  looking, 

1  Vol.  III.  p.  272. 


A  riiOniETIC   GROLT. 

Kissiiii;  lisr  hand,  bowing  lior  miglity  breast, 
Aiul  every  .sign  of  all  s*ubniissi(.ii  making, 
To  be  tlio  sisu-r  and  the  daughter  both 
Of  our  most  sacred  inuid. 


"1 


bring 


And  there  do  palaces  and  temples  rise 
Out  of  tue  earth  suid  kiss  th'  enamor'd  skies, 
Where  new  Britannia  humbly  kneels  to  Heaven, 
The  world  to  her,  and  both  at  her  blest  feet 
la  whom  the  circles  of  ah  empire  meet." 

In  similar  strain  Drayton,  who  flourished  under 
James  I.,  addresses  Virginia :  — 

"And  ours  to  hold 
Virginia, 
Earth's  only  paradise. 

"Where  nature  hath  in  store 
Fowl,  venison,  and  lisli. 

And  the  fruitful'st  soil 

Without  your  toil 
Three  harvests  more, 
All  greater  than  your  wish. 

"  To  whose,  the  golden  age 
Still  nature's  laws  doth  give. 

No  other  cares  that  'tend 

But  them  to  defend 
From  winter's  age, 
That  long  there  doth  not  live."  l 

Daniel,  poet-laureate  and  contemporary,  seemed  to 
foresee  tlie  spread  of  our  English  speech,  anticipating 
our  own  John  Adams  :  — 

"  Who  in  time  knows  whither  we  may  vent 
The  treasures  of  our  tongue  ?    To  what  strange  shores 
This  gain  of  our  best  glory  shall  be  sent, 
T'  enrich  unknowing  nations  with  our  stores? 
What  worlds,  in  the  yet  unformed  Occident, 
May  'come  refined  with  th'  accents  that  are  ours?  "  2 

1  To  the  Virginian  Voj'age:  Anderson's  British  Poets,  Vol.  III.  p  583. 

2  Musophilus:  Anderson's  British  Poets,  Vol.  IV.  p.  541. 


8 


rKornETic  voices  concerning  amekica. 


The  emigration  prompted  by  conscience  and  for  the 
sake  of  religious  liberty  inspired  the  pious  and  poetical 
Herbert  to  famous  verses  :  — 


ii 


"  Keli<;ion  stamls  on  tiptoe  in  our  land, 
Keady  to  pass  to  the  American  strand." 

The  poet  died  in  lG3l',  twelve  years  after  the  landing 
of  the  Pilgrims  at  Tlymouth,  and  only  two  years  after 
the  larger  movemei.':  of  the  IMassachusetts  Company, 
which  began  the  settlement  of  Boston.  The  verses  saw 
the  light  with  difficulty,  being  refused  the  necessary 
license  ;  but  the  functionary  at  last  yielded,  calling  the 
author  "  a  divine  poet,"  and  expressing  the  hope  that 
"  the  world  will  not  take  him  for  an  ins])ired  prophet."  ^ 
Fuller,  writing  a  little  later,  was  perhaps  moxed  by 
Herbert  when  he  said  :  "  I  am  confident  that  America, 
though  the  youngest  sister  of  the  four,  is  now  grown 
marriageable,  and  daily  hopes  to  get  Christ  to  her  hus- 
band, by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel."^  In  a  different 
vein  a  contemporary  poet,  the  favorite  of  Charles  I., 
Thomas  Carew,  in  a  masque  performed  by  the  mon- 
arch and  his  courtiers  tit  .Whitehall,  February  18, 
1C33,  made  sport  of  New  England,  saying  that  it  had 
"  purged  more  virulent  humors  from  the  politic  body 
than  guaiacum  and  the  West  Indian  drugs  have  from 
the  natural  bodies  of  this  kingdom."  ^  But  these  words 
uttered  at  the  Englisli  Court  were  praise. 

Then  came  answering  voices  from  the  Colonies.  Rev. 
AVilliam  ^Morrill,  of  the  Established  Church,  a  settler  of 


,*-■■.■ 


1  Tlie  Clmrch  Militant :    Herbert's  Poetical  Works,  p.  247,   note  (ed. 
Little  and  Brown). 

2  The  Holy  Statr^,  Book  HI.,  Chap  XVI.,  Of  Plantations. 

8  Coelum  Britannicuni:  Anderson's  British  Poets,  Vol.  III.  p.  716. 


A  rRoniETic  GRorr. 


9 


1G23,  said  of  New  England,  in  a  Latin  poem  translated 
by  himself:  — 

♦'  A  fjrnndvhild  to  Knrtli'n pnrnd'ne  is  horn. 
Well  liinboil,  well  nerved,  fair,  rich,  sweet,  yet  forloni."  i 

"The  Sim])le  Cobbler  of  Af,'a\vam,"  another  name  for 
Rev.  Nathaniel  Ward  of  Ipswich,  Mass.,  at  the  close  of 
his  witty  book,  first  published  in  1045  and  having'-  five 
different  editions  in  the  single  year  of  1047,  sends  an 
invitation  to  those  at  liome  :  — 

"  So  fiirewell  Eiiglaiul  old 
If  evil  times  ensue, 
Let  fjood  men  come  to  us, 
Wee  '1  welcome  them  to  New." 

Another  witness  we  meet  in  the  writings  of  Fraidvlin- 
It  is  George  Webb,  who,  decamping  from  Oxford  and  the 
temptations  of  scholarship,  indented  himself  according 
to  the  usage  of  the  times,  and  became  what  Franklin 
calls  "a  bought  servant"  on  our  shores,  wliere  liis  genius 
flowered  in  the  prophetic  couplet,  written  in  1728 :  — 

"Rome  shall  lament  her  ancient  fame  declined, 
Ami  Philiuhlphia  be  the  Athens  of  mankind.'''' 

Another  English  prophet,  in  verses  written  during  our 
colonial  days,  foretells  that  liis  country  shall  see  Ih'itisli 
wealth,  power,  and  glory  repeated  in  the  New  World:  — 

"  In  other  lands,  another  Britain  see, 
And  what  thou  art  America  shall  be."  2 

And  yet  anotlier,  Hugh  Henry  Brackenridge,  born  in 
Scotland,  and  a  graduate  of  our  Princeton  College  in 

1  Duyckinck's  Cyclopoedia  of  American  Literature,  Vol.  L  p.  2. 

2  Webster:  Works,  Vol.  IL  p.  510.     Speech  at  the  Festival  of  the  Sons  of 
New  Hampshire. 


w 


10 


PUOI'lIETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


»   t 


1771,  in  a  Commencement  poem  on  "The  Ilising  Glory 
of  America,"  i)ictured  the  future  of  the  continent,  adopt- 
ing ay  a  motto  thi;  verses  of  Seneca,  so  often  quoted  by 
Columbus :  — 

"  Tliis  is  tliy  praise,  Amcricft,  thy  power, 
Tlinu  ')ost  of  climes  by  science  visited, 
iiy  freedom  blest,  iiiul  richly  stored  with  all 
The  luxuries  of  life.     Ilail,  haitpy  land, 
The  seat  of  empire,  the  abode  of  kings, 
The  final  stage  where  Time  shall  introduce 
Renowned  characters  and  glorious  works  of  art, 
■ '  Which  not  the  ravages  of  Time  shall  waste 

Till  he  nimself  has  run  his  long  career."  i 

To  these  add  Voltaire,  who,  in  his  easy  verse  written 
in  1751,  represents  God  as  putting  fever  in  European  cli- 
mates "  and  the  remedy  in  America."  ^ 

From  this  chorus,  with  only  one  discordant  voice,  I 
pass  to  a  long  line  of  voices  so  distinct  and  full  as  to 
be  recognized  separately. 


JOHN  MILTON,  1641. 

The  list  opens  with  John  Milton,  whose  lofty  words 
are  like  an  overture  to  the  great  drama  of  emigration, 
with  its  multitudes  in  successive  generations.  If  not  a 
prophet,  he  has  yet  struck  a  mighty  key-note  in  our  his- 
tory. 

The  author  of  "Paradise  Lost,"  of  "Comus"  and  the 
lieroic  Sonnets,  needs  no  special  mention  beyond  the 
two  great  dates  of  birth  and  death.     He  was  born  9th 


1  Duyckinck's  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Literature,  Vol.  I.  p.  299. 

2  "  II  met  la  fi6vre  en  nos  climats, 
Et  le  remede  en  Amerique,^* 
Epitre  au  Roi  de  Prusse,  LXXV.:  (Euvres,  XIII.  p.  186  (ed.  1784). 


ABRAHAM   COWLEV,   1007. 


11 


Decembor,  1G08,  and  died  8th  Xoveiiil)L'i',  1G74.     Thu 
treatise  from  wliicli  I  (|Uote  was  written  in  1041. 

"  Whiit  numbers  of  faithful  nnd  free-born  Enijlishmcn  and 
good  Cliristiu'^s  luivo  been  constrained  to  forsake  their  dear- 
est home,  their  friends  and  kindred,  whom  nothing  but  the 
wide  ocean  and  the  savage  deserts  of  America  could  hide 
and  shelter  from  the  fury  of  the  l)isho|)s  !  O,  if  we  could  but 
see  the  8lmi)C  of  our  dear  mother  England,  as  poets  are  wont 
to  give  a  })crsonal  form  to  what  they  i)lease,  how  would  she 
ap[)ear,  think  ye,  but  in  a  mourning  weed,  with  ashc.  upon 
her  head,  and  tears  abundantly  flowing  from  her  eyes,  to 
behold  so  many  of  her  children  exposed  at  once  and  thrust 
from  things  of  dearest  necessity,  because  their  conscience 
could  not  assent  to  things  which  the  bisho})s  thought  indif- 
ferent ]  Let  the  astrologer  be  dismayed  at  the  portentous 
blaze  of  comets  and  impressions  in  the  air,  as  foretelling 
troubles  and  changes  to  states ;  I  shall  believe  there  cannot 
be  a  more  ill-boding  sign  to  a  nation  (God  turn  the  omen 
from  us  !)  than  when  the  inhabitants,  to  avoid  insufterablo 
grievances  at  home,  are  enforced  by  heaps  to  forsake  their 
native  country."  ^ 

Here  in  a  few  words  are  the  sacrifices  made  by  our 
fathers,  as  they  turned  from  their  English  homes,  and 
also  the  conscience  which  prompted  and  sustained  them. 
Begun  in  sacrifice  and  in  conscience,  their  empire  grew 
and  flourished  with  constant  and  increasing  promise  of 
future  grandeur. 

ABRAHAM  COWLEY,  1667. 

Contemporary  with  ^Milton,  and  at  the  time  a  rival 
for  the  palm  of  poetry,   was  Abraham  Cowley,  born 

^  Reformation  in  England,  Book  II.:  Works,  Vol.  III.  p.  45  (Pickering's 
edition). 


.-it 


ni- 


1 1 


12 


PllOl'IIETIC   VOICES   CONX'ERNIXG   AMEKICA. 


1G18,  (lied  28th  July,  1GG7.  His  l)iograi)l»y  stands  at 
tlie  head  of  Johnson's  "Lives  of  the  British  I'oets,"  tiie 
first  in  that  instructive  collection.  The  two  poets  were 
on  opjMJsite  sides ;  Milton  for  the  Commonwealth,  Cow- 
ley for  the  King. 

His  genius  was  recognized  in  his  own  time,  and  when 
he  died,  at  the  age  of  forty-nine,  after  a  niglit  of  ex[)os- 
nre  under  the  oi)en  sky,  Charles  11.  said:  "  ^Ir.  Cowley 
has  not  left  a  better  man  behind  him  in  England."     He 
was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey,  near  Chaucer  and 
Spenser,     liut  jWcS^  morfcni  praise  was  too  late  to  as- 
suage the  sting  of  royal  ingratitude  to  a  faithful  servant. 
His  disap})ointment  oroke  forth  in  the  declared  desire 
"  to  retire  to  some  of  the  American  plantations  and 
forsake  the  world  forever."     Instead  of  America  he  se- 
lected the  county  of  Kent,  where  he  withdrew  and  es- 
l^ecially  delighted  in  the  study  of  plants.     His  botany 
flowered  in  i)oetry.     He    composed,  in  much   admired 
Latin  verse,  six  books  on  l^lants,  —  the  first  and  second 
in  elegiac  verse,  disjdaying  the  qualities  of  herbs ;  the 
third  and  fourth,  in  various  measures,  on  the  beauties  of 
Howers ;  and  the  fifth  and  sixth  in  hexameters,  like  the 
Georgics,  on  the  uses  of  trees.     The  first  two  books,  in 
Latin,  appeared  in  1GG2 ;  the  other  four,  also  in  Latin, 
were  not  published  till  1G78,  the  year  after  his  death. 
They  did  not  see  the  English  light  till  1705,  when 
a  translation  was  published  by  Tate,^  from  which  I 
quote. 

Two  fruits  of  America  are  commemorated.     The  first 
is  that  which  becomes  chocolate  :  — 

1  Cowley's  History  of  Plants,  a  poem  in  six  Books,  with  Papin's  Defi- 
nition of  Garden'*,  a  poem  in  four  Books.  Translated  from  tlie  Latin,  tlie 
former  by  N.  Tate  and  others,  the  hitter  by  James  Gardner.   (London,  1705  ) 


■L 


AHUA1IAM   COWLEY,    ICCiT. 


13 


"  Gimtimalii  prodiiroil  ii  fruit  unknown 
To  liuiiipc,  wliifli  witli  (loul)l()  \iw  onduccl 
l-'or  clidrolati!  lit  onc'f  is  drink  anil  luuil, 
l)ocH  striMij;tli  anil  vi;ior  to  the  limits  impart, 
Makes  iVusli  tlio  cuuntcnuuco  and  cliucrs  the  heart."  1 


The  other  is  the  cucou :  — 

•'While  slio  preserves  this  Indian  pahn  alono 
Ameriea  ran  never  be  und"'.!f 
Kmbowelled  and  of  alt  her  j;old  bereft 
Her  liberty  anc    'ocas  only  left, 
She  's  richer  than  the  S])anittrd  with  his  theft."  3 

The  poet,  addressing  the  New  Woiid,  beeoiiies  pro- 
phetic :  — 

"  To  live  by  wholesome  laws  you  now  begin 
Buililini,'s  to  raise  and  fence  your  cities  in, 
To  plouj,'h  the  earth,  to  plough  the  very  main. 
And  trallic  with  tiie  universe  maintain; 
Defensive  arms  and  ornaments  of  dress. 
All  im[)lements  of  life  you  now  possess. 
To  you  the  arts  of  war  and  peace  are  known, 
And  whole  Minerva  is  become  your  f)wn. 
Our  UHises,  to  your  sires  an  unknown  band. 
Already  have  got  footing  in  your  land. 

•  •  •  •  ■ 

*'  Loni^  rolling  years  shall  late  bring  on  the  times 
When  with  your  gold  ileltauehod  and  ripoiied  crimes 
Tluvnpn,  tlip  world's  most  noblo  part,  shall  fall 
Tpnn  her  banished  gods  and  virtue  call 
In  vain,  wliilo  foroirrn  and  domestic  -war 
At  once  shall  hor  distracted  bosom  tear,  — 
Forlorn,  and  to  bo  pitied,  even  hy  yon: 
Menmrhih  jinvr  risinr/  rjlnry  j/nv  ah  nil  new, 
Wit,  Icnrninrf,  ii'vttie.  dncipl'ine  qfirnr^ 
Shnll  for  protection  to  ymir  rt'orhl  repair, 
Andjix  n  lorif/  illustrious  empire  there. 

"  Lnte  destiny  shall  high  exalt  your  reign, 
Whose  pomp  no  crowds  of  slaves  a  needless  train. 
Nor  gold,  the  rabble's  idol,  shall  support. 


1  Rook  V. 


2  Ibid. 


V] 


*\ 


k 


14  I'KOPIIKTIC   VOICES   CONCKKMNG   AMKIUCA. 

Likp  Mi)iitPZume'H  or  OuiiniipficiN  rourt, 

liut  Hiu'li  true)  ^Miiiidctir  uh  old  Hume  inuiiitiiined; 

Wljcni  lurtuiiu  was  a  slave,  an<l  virtue  rei(;iicJ."  i 

Tliis  propliucy,  tlioui-li  appt'iiring  in  Kn<,'lisli  tardily, 
may  be  diitud  I'loiii  1GG7,  wliuii  tlie  Latin  poem  \\m 
alrt3}idy  written. 

SIR  THOMAS   nilOWNE,  1682. 

Dr.  Jolinson  called  attention  to  a  tract  of  Sir  Thomas 
Browne  entitled  "A  Tropliecy  concerning  the  Fiitnre 
State  of  Several  Nations,"  where  the  famous  author 
"  plainly  discovers  his  expectation  to  ho  the  same  with 
that  entertained  later  with  more  confidence  hy  J)r. 
Berkeley,  that  America  vjill  he  the  ticat  of  tltv  fiftli  em- 
2)in;"  ^     The  tract  is  vague,  hut  i)roi>hetic. 

Sir  Thomas  lirowne  was  horn  I'.ith  Octol)er,  1(505, 
and  died  lUtii  October,  1082.  His  tract  was  pul)lished, 
two  years  after  his  death,  in  a  collection  of  jSIiscellanies, 
edited  hy  Dr.  Tenison.  As  a  much-admired  author, 
some  of  whose  writings  belong  to  our  English  classics, 
his  proplietic  prolusions  are  not  nuMorthy  of  notice. 
They  are  founded  on  verses  entitled  "  The  Prophecy," 
purporting  to  have  been  sent  him  by  a  friend,  among 
which  are  the  following:  — 

«'  When  New  Englanrl  shall  trouble  new  Spain, 
When  .Tnmaica  shall  be  lady  of  the  isles  and  the  main; 
When  Spain  shall  be  in  America  hid, 
And  Mexico  shall  prove  a  ^ladrid ; 
When  Africa  s/inll  vn  more  sell  out  their  hhclcs 
To  mnl-e  slaves  and  drudges  to  the  American  tracts; 

.  •  •  " 

When  America  shall  cease  to  serul  out  its  treasure, 
But  employ  it  at  home  in  American  pleasure ; 


1  Book  V. 


2  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne. 


ill 


sm  THOMAS   nilOWNE,   1082. 


15 


]\lientheXfw  W'orlil  thnll  the  Oil  innule, 

Nor  count  tliiin  tinir  Imlt  but  thvirfvlUnn  in  trade ; 

•  •  •  •  • 

Tlicri  think  f*trimfr<>  tliinjrs  have  cotno  to  light, 
Whcri'of  but  few  havo  imd  ii  forcsi{;lit."  ^ 

Somo  of  tlicsi;  words  are  striking',  ospccially  when  wq 
considor  tlit'ir  curly  duto.  The  author  of  tlie  "  Jielij,n() 
IMedici"  seems  in  tlie  main  to  accejit  the  ])rophecy, 
which  may  he  liis  own.  In  a  coimiientary  on  each 
verse  lie  seeks  to  explain  it.  New  Kuj^Mand  is  "  that 
thriving  colony  which  hath  so  much  increased  in  his 
day";  its  peojde  are  already  " industrious,"  and  when 
they  have  so  far  increased  "  that  the  neighboring  coun- 
try will  not  contain  them,  they  will  range  still  further, 
and  he  able  in  time  to  set  forth  great  armies,  seek  lor 
new  possessions,  or  make  considerable  and  conjoined  mi- 
grations." The  verse  touching  Africa  will  be  fulfilled 
"  when  African  countries  shall  no  longer  make  it  a  com- 
mon trade  to  sell  away  their  people."  And  this  may 
come  to  pass  "  whenever  they  shall  he  well  civilized 
and  acquainted  with  arts  and  affairs  sufficient  to  employ 
people  in  their  countries."  It  would  also  come  to  pass, 
"  if  they  shouhl  be  converted  to  Christianity,  but  espe- 
cially into  Mahometism  ;  for  then  they  would  never  sell 
those  of  their  religion  to  be  slaves  unto  Cliristiaiis." 
The  verse  concerning  America  is  expounded  thus  :  — 

"  That  is,  when  America  shall  he  better  civilized,  new 
policied,  and  divided  between  great  princes,  it  may  come  to 
pass  that  they  will  no  longer  sufter  their  treasure  of  gold  and 
silver  to  be  sent  out  to  maintain  the  luxury  of  Europe  and 
other  ports;  but  rather  employ  it  to  their  own  advantages, 
in  great  exploits  and  undertakings,  magnificent  structures, 
wars,  or  expeditions  of  their  own.'"^ 

1  Browne,  W'orks,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  232,  233. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  236. 


Jl 


IG 


rnopiiETic  VOICES  coNCKRXiy(j  America. 


TIjo  ntlior  vorso,  on  the  invasion  of  tliu  Old  World  by 
tho  New,  is  I'Xpliiined  :  — 

"Tliut  is,  wlion  Aiiicricii  simll  1)0  ho  well  j)0()|)1cmI,  eivili/od, 
and  divided  into  kiiij^'donis,  f/n//  an'  llhr  to  have  no  little  re- 
l/(n<l  <if  tlirir  (>ri(/iiioln  as  to  nrk'Honilediie  no  Hiihjectinit.  unto 
them;  they  niiiy  ulso  Imvo  a  distinct  connnerco  thi'iDHclvus, 
or  l)nt  iiidopc'udontly  with  thoso  of  Kiirojic,  and  may  hos- 
tilcly  and  piratically  asstudt  tlictn,  even  as  the  (Jreek  and 
J{oinan  culonies  after  a  long  time  dealt  with  their  original 
countries, 


>i  1 


That  these  speculations  should  arrest  the  attention 
of  J)r.  fJohnson  is  soniethinj^j.  They  seem  to  have  been 
in  part  I'ullilled.  An  editor  (quietly  remarks,  that,  "to 
judge  from  the  course  of  events  since  Sir  Thomas  wrote, 
we  may  not  unreasonabl}'^  look  forward  to  their  more 
complete  fullilment."  ^ 


I     t 


SIR  JOSIAH  CHILD  AXD  DR.  CHARLES  DAVENAXT,  1698. 

In  contrast  with  the  poets,  but  minglinjjr  with  them 
in  forecast,  were  two  writers  on  trade,  who  saw  the 
future  through  facts  and  figures,  or  what  one  of  them 
called  "  ])olitical  arithmetic,"  even  discerning  colonial 
in(le])endence  in  the  distance.  These  were  Sir  .Tosiah 
Child,  born  1G30  and  died  1G90,  and  Dr.  Charles  Dave- 
nant,  born  IGoG  and  died  1714. 

Child  is  mentioned  by  Defoe  as  "  originally  a  trades- 
man." Others  speak  of  him  as  "a  Southwalk  l)reM'er," 
and  Macculloch  calls  him  "  one  of  the  most  extensive 
and,  judging  from  his  work,  best-informed  merchants 

1  Browne,  Work?,  Vol.  IV.  p.  236. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  231,  note. 


SIR  JOSIAII   CHILD  AND   DU.   DAVE.NAM,   lOlW.        17 


of  liis  tinio."  *  II»!  rose  to  wealth  and  considcnition, 
roiiiiilinj^  u  family  which  iiitcriiiiuriod  with  the  noiiility. 
His  soil  was  known  as  i^onl  ('aslh'iniiinc,  i'laii  Tihu'y 
of  Iiclanci.  l)av('nant  was  (.'Idcst  son  of  the  autiior  of 
(londihi'i't,  "  rare  Sir  William,"  and,  like  his  eminent 
fatiier,  a  (hainad  I.  He  was  also  inend)er  of  I'arlia- 
nient,  and  wrote;  nuieii  on  comniereial  ([nestions  ;  hut 
here  he  was  less  fanions  than  Child,  wliose  "  New  l)is- 
eourse  of  Trade,"  so  I'ar  as  it  concerned  the  inlerest  of 
money,  first  a]»pcared  in  lG(i8,  and  since  then  has  he(;ii 
often  reprinted  and  nnich  (luoted.  There  was  an  en- 
larucd  e(liti(jn  in  1(>'J4.  That  now  liefore  me  ajtpcanfd 
ill  KIDS,  jind  in  tiie  .sanu;  year  Havenant  ])uhli,shi!d  his 
kindred  "J)iscourse.s  on  the  l*uhlic  Jicsvennes  and  on 
the  Trade  of  Knuland,"  anion<^  which  is  one  "  (tn  the 
Plantation  Trade;."  The  two  anthun:  treated  especially 
the  Colonies,  and  in  simih»r  sjtirit. 

The  work  of  Child  was  hrou,i,dit  to  roc^ent  notice;  hy 
the  volnmi!ions  ])lodder  (Jeor^fe  Chalmers,  ])articularly 
in  his  writings  on  the  C\)lonies  and  American  Indeju-n- 
dcnce,^  and  then  again  hy  tlu;  elder  Disraeli  in  his 
"Curiosities  of  Literature,"  who  i)laces  a  ])roj)hecy  at- 
trihuted  to  him  in  his  chapter  on  "  Trediction."  After 
referring  to  Harrington  and  Defoe,  "who  ventured  to 
predict  an  event,  not  hy  other  similar  events,  hut  hy  a 
theoretical  principle  which  ho  had  formed,"  Disraeli 
quotes  Chalmers  :  — 

"  Cliild,  foreseeing  from  experience  that  men's  condnrt 
must  finally  he   decided  hy  their  principles,   fouktold   the 

1  The  Litcrnturo  of  Political  Economy,  p.  42. 

2  Seo  Opinions  on  Intcrcstinjij  Subjects  of  Tutlic  L:iw  siiul  Commorciiil 
Policy  nrisinj:^  from  Aniorican  Inclcpendcnco,  \>.  108.  A  motto  on  the  re- 
verse of  the  title-page  is  from  Child. 

B 


i'""  r'.'ViV'ii  >.i  |M    )  mnj^y^mr^i^ 


!    i 


•i 


i 


18 


PROniETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


colonial  revolt.  Dofoc,  allowinj;  his  prejudices  to  obscure 
his  sagacity,  reprobated  that  suggestion,  because  he  deemed 
interest  a  more  strenuous  prompter  than  enthusiasm." 

The  pleasant  hunter  of  curiosities  then  says:  — 

"The  predictions  of  Harrington  and  Defoe  are  precisely 
such  as  we  might  expect  from  a  petty  calculator  or  a  politi- 
cal economist,  who  can  see  nothing  further  than  immediate 
results  ;  but  the  true  philosophical  predictor  was  Child,  who 
had  read  the  />««<."  ^ 

D'Israeli  was  more  curious  than  accurate.  His  ex- 
cuse is  that  he  followed  another  writer.^  The  predic- 
tion attributed  to  Child  belongs  to  Davenant ;  but  the 
two  are  coupled  by  the  introduction  of  words  from  the 
former. 

The  work  of  Child  is  practical  ratlier  than  specula- 
tive, and  shows  a  careful  student  of  trade.  Dwelling 
on  tlie  "  plantations  "  of  England  and  their  value,  he 
considers  their  original  settlement,  and  here  we  find  a 
painful  contrast  beuween  New  England  and  Virginia.^ 
Passing  from  the  settlement  to  the  character,  New 
England  is  described  as  "  being  a  more  independent 
government  from  this  kingdom  than  any  other  of  our 
plantations,  and  the  people  that  went  thither  more  one 
peculiar  sort  or  sect  than  those  that  went  to  the  rest  of 
our  plantations."  *  He  recognized  in  them  "  a  people, 
whose  frugality,  industry,  and  temperance,  and  the  hap- 
piness of  whose  laws  and  institutions,  do  promise  to 
themselves  long  life  with  a  wonderful  increase  of  peO" 

1  Curiosities  of  Literature,  Vol.  III.  p.  303  (ed.  London,  1849). 

2  Chalmers,  Life  of  Defoe,  p.  68. 

8  A  New  Discourse  of  Trade,  p.  183  (ed.  1698). 
*  Ibid.,  p.  201. 


SIR  JOSIAII   CHILD   AND    Dli.    DAVENANT,    1(398.         19 


re  one 
best  of 
[eople, 

hap- 
lise  to 

peo- 


1 

■I 


m 


i 


':m 


pie,  riches,  ami  power."  ^  And  then :  "  Of  all  the 
American  plantations,  his  Majesty  hath  none  so  apt  for 
the  building  of  shi})ping  as  New  England.  Nor  none 
comparably  so  qualitied  for  breeding  of  seamen,  not  oidy 
by  reason  of  tlie  natural  industry  of  tliat  people,  but 
})rincipally  by  reason  of  tlieir  cod  and  mackerel  fish- 
eries." ^  On  his  last  i)age  are  words  more  than  compli- 
mentary :  — 

"  To  conclude  this  chapter  and  to  do  right  to  that  most 
industrious  English  colony,  I  must  confess  that  though  wo 
lose  by  their  unlimited  trade  with  our  foreign  plantations, 
yet  wo  are  very  great  gainers  by  their  direct  trade  to  and 
from  Old  England.  Our  yearly  English  exportations  of 
English  manufactures,  malt  and  other  goods  from  hence 
thither,  amounting  in  my  opinion  to  ten  times  the  value  of 
what  is  imported  ^'•om  thence."  ^ 

Here  is  keen  observation,  but  hardly  prophecy. 
Contrast  this  with  Davenant :  — 

"  As  the  case  now  stands,  we  shall  show  that  they  [the 
Colonics]  are  a  spring  of  wealth  to  this  nation,  that  they 
work  for  us,  that  their  treasure  centres  all  here,  and  that 
the  laws  have  tied  them  fast  enough  to  ue ,  so  that  it  must 
be  through  our  own  fault  and  misgovernmcnt,  if  the y  hecome 
independent  of  England.  ....  ('orrupt  govei'nors  may  here- 
after provoke  them  to  withdraw  their  obedience,  and  by  supine 
negligence  or  upon  mistaken  measures,  wo  may  let  them 
grow,  more  especially  New  England,  in  naval  strength  and 
power,  ivhich,  if  suffered,  we  cannot  expect  to  hold  them  long  in 
our  mhjection.  If,  as  some  have  proposed,  we  should  think 
to  build  ships  of  war  there,  we  may  teach  them  an  art  which 

1  A  New  Discourse  of  Trade,  p.  203  (ed.  1698). 

2  Iliid.,  p.  215. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  216. 


•^f^mftftr^r^im^miir^jmt^i^"'-  m^mwrffmfr 


20 


PROPMETir   VOICKS    CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


will  cost  lis  some  blows  to  make  them  forf,'et.  Some  such 
courses  may,  iudccd,  drive  them,  or  put  it  iuto  their  heads, 
to  erect  themselves  into  independent  Commonwealths.''  * 

])avenaiit  then  quotes  Child's  remark  on  New  Eng- 
land as  "  the  most  proi)er  for  building  ships  and  breed- 
ing seamen,"  and  adds  :  — 

"  So  that,  if  we  should  go  to  cultivate  among  them  the 
art  of  navigation  and  teach  them  to  have  a  naval  force,  thei/ 
may  set  ttp  for  themselves  and  make  the  greatest  part  of  our 
West  India  trade  precarious.''^ 

These  identical  words  are  quoted  by  Chalmers,  who 
exclaims :  "Of  that  pr()})liecy  we  have  lived,  alas  !  to  see 
tlie  fulfilment."^  Doubtless,  on  this  Disraeli  founded 
Jiis  prediction. 

Chalmers  emigrated  from  Scotland  to  Maryland,  and 
practised  in  the  colonial  courts,  but,  disgusted  with 
American  independence,  returned  home,  where  he  wrote 
and  edited  much,  especially  on  colonial  questions,  ill 
concealing  a  certain  animosity,  and,  on  one  occasion, 
stating  tiiat,  among  the  documents  in  the  Board  of 
Trade  and  Paper  Office  were  "  the  most  satisfactory 
proofs  "  of  the  settled  purpose  of  the  Colonies,  from  "  the 
epoch  of  the  Ee volution  of  1G88,"  "to  acquire  direct  in- 
dependence." *  But  none  of  these  proofs  are  presented. 
The  same  allegation  was  also  made  l)y  Viscount  Bury 
in  his  "  Exodus  of  "Western  Nations,"**  but  also  without 
proofs. 

The  name  of  Defoe  is  always  interesting,  and  I  can- 

1  Discourses,  Part  II.  pp.  204,  205. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  206. 

-''  Opinions  on  Interesting  Subjects,  p.  108. 
*  Opinions  of  Eminent  Lawyers,  Preface  xvi. 
6  Vol.  II.  p.  395. 


"'  'm 


\M 


BISHOr   BERKELKY,    1720. 


'>1 


not  close  tliis  'article  without  reference  to  the  sn\  inj^ 
attributed  to  him  by  JJ'Israeli.  1  know  not  where  in 
his  multitudinous  writings  it  may  l)e  found,  unless  in 
his  "  Plan  of  the  English  Commerce,"  and  here  careful 
researcli  discloses  nothing  nearer  than  this :  — 

"  What  a  glorious  trade  to  England  it  would  bo  to  have 
these  colonies  increased  with  a  niilhon  of  people,  to  be 
clothed,  furnished,  and  supplied  with  all  their  needful 
things,  food  excepted,  only  from  us,  and  tied  down  forever 
to  us  by  that  immortal,  indissoluble  bond  of  trade,  their  inter- 
est:' ' 

In  the  same  work  he  says  :  — 

"  This  is  certain  and  will  be  granted,  that  the  product  of 
our  imjjroved  colonies  raises  intini^oly  more  trade,  cnii)Ioys 
more  hands,  and,  I  think  I  may  say  by  consequence,  brings 
in  more  wealth  to  this  one  particular  nation  or  people,  the 
English,  than  uU  the  mines  of  Now  Spain  do  to  the  Span- 
iards." 2 

In  this  vision  the  author  of  liobinson  Crusoe  was 
permitted  to  see  the  truth  with  regard  to  our  country, 
although  failing  to  recognize  future  independence. 


BISHOP   BERKELEY,    1726. 

It  is  pleasant  to  think  that  Berkeley,  whose  beautiful 
verses  predicting  the  future  of  America  are  so  often  quoted, 
was  so  sweet  and  charming  a  character.  Atterbury  wrote 
of  him  :  "  So  much  understanding,  knowledge,  innocence, 
and  humility  I  should  have  thought  confined  to  angels, 
had  I  never  seen  this  gentleman."     Swift  said :  "  He  is 

1  Papte  3fil. 

2  Ibifl.,  pp  306,  307.     See  also  The  Complete  English  Tradesman,  Chap. 
XXXVI.,  Works,  Vol.  XVII,  pp.  256,  259. 


■  "■^••jfT,'*--^'^; •;•""•,'*  I  pFM  ^>7f  i,ii»j  muw.ff^^^if^^^,i  _,  \  I  «<«  n!">  ■  .  •i^vr,!!' 


il 


I 


■p 


li 


22 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


an  absolute  philosoplier  with  regard  to  money,  title,  and 
power."     Pope  let  drop  a  tribute  which  can  never  die, — 

*'  To  Berkeley  every  virtue  under  Ileuvon." 

Such  a  person  was  naturally  a  seer. 

He  is  compendiously  called  an  Irish  prelate  and  phi- 
losopher. Born  in  Kilkenny,  1084,  and  dying  in  Ox- 
ford, 1753,  he  b(?gan  as  a  philosoplier.  While  still  young, 
he  wrote  his  famous  treatise  on  "  The  Principles  of  Hu- 
man Knowledge,"  where  he  denies  the  existence  of  mat- 
ter, insisting  that  it  is  only  an  impression  produced  on 
the  mind  by  Divine  power.  After  travel  for  several 
years  on  the  Continent,  and  fellowship  with  the  witty 
and  learned  at  home,  among  whom  were  Addison,  Swift, 
Pope,  Garth,  and  Arbuthnot,  he  conceived  the  project  of 
educating  the  aborigines  of  America,  which  was  set  forth 
in  a  tract,  published  in  1725,  entitled  "  Scheme  for  Con- 
verting the  Savage  Americans  to  Christianity  by  a  Col- 
lege to  be  erected  in  the  Summer  Islands,  otherwise 
called  the  Isles  of  Bermuda."  Persuaded  by  his  benevo- 
lence, the  ministers  promised  twenty  thousand  pounds, 
and  there  were  several  private  subscriptions  to  promote 
what  was  called  by  the  king  "so  pious  an  undertaking." 
Berkeley  possessed  already  a  deanery  in  Ireland,  with 
one  thousand  pounds  a  year.  Turning  away  from  this 
residence,  and  refusing  to  be  tempted  by  an  English 
mitre,  offered  by  the  queen,  he  set  sail  for  Rhode  Island, 
"  which  lay  nearest  Bermuda,"  where,  after  a  tedious 
passage  of  five  months,  he  arrived  23d  January,  1729. 
Here  he  lived  on  a  farm  back  of  Newport,  having  been, 
according  to  his  own  report,  "  at  great  expense  for  land 
and  stock."  In  familiar  letters  he  has  recorded  his  im- 
pression of  this  place,  famous  since  for  fashion.     "  The 


f! 

r 


BISHOP   BERKELEY,    1720. 


23 


climate,"  he  says,  "  is  like  that  of  Italy,  and  not  at  all 
colder  in  the  winter  than  I  have  known  it  everywlioro 
north  of  Home.  This  island  is  pleasantly  laid  out  in 
hills  and  vales  and  rising  grounds,  hath  plenty  of  excel- 
lent springs  and  fine  rivulets  and  many  delightful  land- 
scapes of  rocks  and  promontories  and  adjacent  lands. 
Tlie  town  of  Newport  contains  about  six  thousand  souls, 
and  is  the  most  tliriving,  flourishing  place  in  all  America 
for  its  bigness.  It  is  very  pretty  and  ])leasantly  situated. 
I  was  never  more  agreeably  surprised  than  at  the  first 
sight  of  the  town  and  its  harbor."  ^  lie  seems  to  have 
been  contented,  and  when  his  companions  went  to  Jios- 
ton  stayed  at  home,  "  preferring,"  as  he  wrote,  "  quiet 
and  solitude  to  the  noise  of  a  great  town,  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  solicitations  that  have  been  used  to  draw  us 
thither."  2 

The  money  he  had  expected,  especially  from  the  king's 
ministers,  failed,  and  after  waiting  in  vain  ex[)ectation 
two  years  and  a  half,  he  returned  to  England,  leaving  an 
infant  son  buried  in  the  churchyard  of  Trinity,  and  be- 
stowing upon  Yale  College  a  library  of  eight  hundred 
and  eighty  volu  les,  as  well  as  his  estate  in  Rhode  Island. 
During  his  residence  at  Newport  he  had  preached  every 
Sunday,  and  was  indefatigable  in  pastoral  duties,  besides 
meditating,  if  not  composing,  "The  Minute  Philosopher," 
which  was  published  shortly  after  his  return. 

^■n  his  absence  he  had  not  been  forgotten  at  home ; 
and  shortly  after  his  return  he  became  Bishop  of  Cloyne, 
in  which  place  he  was  most  exemplary,  devoting  himself 
to  his  episcopal  duties,  to  the  education  of  his  children, 
and  the  pleasures  of  composition. 

1  Berkeley,  Work?,  Vol.  I.,  Life  prefixed,  p.  53. 

2  Ibid.,  p!  55. 


24 


PKOniETIC  VOICES   CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


;l 


It  was  while  occupied  with  his  plan  of  a  college,  es- 
pecially as  a  mirsery  for  the  Colonial  churcheH,  shortly 
hefore  sailing  lor  America,  that  the  great  future  was 
revealed  to  him,  and  he  wrote  the  famous  poem,  the  only- 
one  found  among  his  works,  entitled  "Verses  on  the 
Prospect  of  Planting  Arts  and  Learning  in  America.'  ^ 
The  date  may  be  fixed  at  1726.  Such  a  poem  was  an 
iiistoric  event.     I  give  the  first  and  last  stanzas. 

"  The  Muse,  disgusted  iit  an  age  and  climo 

Rarrcn  of  every  glorious  theine, 
In  distant  laruh  now  icaits  a  better  time. 

Producing  subjects  worthy  J'ame. 

.  .  .  •  • 

Westward  the,  course  of  empire  takes  its  way ; 

Tlic  first  four  acts  already  past, 
A  fiftii  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day  ; 

Time's  noblest  oiTspring  is  the  last.'' 

It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  value  of  these  verses, 
which  have  been  so  often  quoted  as  to  become  a  common- 
place of  literature  and  politics.  There  is  nothing  from 
any  oracle,  there  is  very  little  from  any  prophecy,  which 
can  compare  with  them.  The  biographer  of  Berkeley, 
who  wrote  in  the  last  century,  was  very  cautious,  wlien, 
after  calling  them  "  a  beautiful  copy  of  verses,"  he  says 
that  "  another  age  will  perhaps  acknowledge  the  old 
conjunction  of  the  prophetic  character  with  that  of  the 
poet  to  have  again  taken  place."  ^  The  vatcs  of  the  Ro- 
mans was  poet  and  prophet ;  and  such  was  Berkeley. 

Mr.  Webster  calls  this  an  "  extraordinary  prophecy," 
and  then  says  :  "  It  was  an  intuitive  glance  into  futurity ; 
it  was  a  grand  conception,  strong,  ardent,  glowing,  em- 
bracing all  time  since  the  creation  of  the  world  and  all 

1  Berkeley,  Works,  Vol.  11.  p.  443. 

2  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.,  Life  prefixed,  p.  15. 


BISHOP   BERKELEY,    172G. 


25 


regions  of  wliich  that  world  is  composed,  and  judging  of 
the  future  by  just  iinak)gy  with  the  past.     And  tlie  in- 
imitable imagery  and  beauty  with  wliich  the  thought  i*: 
expressed,  joined  to  the  conception  itself,  render  it  one  of 
the  most  striking  passages  in  our  language."  ^ 

The  sentiment  whicli  prompted  the  prophetic  verses  of 
the  excellent  Bishop  was  wiilely  difl'used,  or  perhaps  it 
was  a  natural  prompting.^  Of  this  illustration  is  afford- 
ed in  the  life  of  Benjamin  West.  On  his  visit  to  Home 
in  17GU,  the  young  artist  encountered  a  famous  iniprov- 
visatore,  who,  learning  that  lie  was  an  American  come 
to  study  the  tine  arts  in  Home,  at  once  addressed  him 
with  the  ardor  of  inspiration,  and  to  the  nmsic  of  his 
guitar.  After  singing  the  darkness  which  lor  so  many 
ages  veiled  America  from  the  eyes  of  science,  and  also 
the  fulness  of  time  when  the  purposes  for  whicii  this 
continent  had  been  raised  from  the  deep  would  be  man- 
ifest, he  hailed  the  youtli  before  him  as  an  instrument 
of  Heaven  to  raise  there  a  taste  for  the  arts  which  ele- 
vate man,  and  an  assurance  of  refuge  to  science  and 
knowledge,  w^hen,  in  the  old  age  of  Europe,  tliey  should 
have  forsaken  her  shores.  Then,  in  tlie  spirit  of  proph- 
ecy, he  sang :  — 

"But  all  thinrfs  of  heavenhj  orir^m,  like  the  ffloriouii  sun, 
mme  westivard  ;  and  truth  and  art  have  their  periods  of  shin- 
ing and  of  night.  Rejoice  then,  0  venerable  Rome,  in  thy 
divine  destiny  ;  for  though  darkness  overshadow  thy  scats, 
and  though  thy  mitred  head  must  descend  into  the  dust, 
thy  spirit  immortal  and  undecayed  already-  spreads  towards  a 
new  world. ^^^ 

1  Address  at  the  layinpj  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  addition  to  the  Capitol, 
July  4,  1851 :  Works,  Vol.  II.  p.  696.     Soe  also  p.  510. 

2  Grahame,  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  136,  448. 
«  Gait,  Life  of  West,  Vol.  I.  pp.  116,  117. 


fPMHI"II^^V^ 


26 


PUOrilETIC   VOICES   CONCEIINING   AMEUICA. 


John  Adams  in  his  old  a^^'c,  dwelling  on  the  roniinis- 
cences  of  early  life,  records  that  nothin;j[  was  "  more 
ancient  in  his  memory  than  the  observation  that  arts, 
s«.'iences,  and  emi)ire  had  travelled  westward,  and  in  con- 
versation it  was  always  added,  since  ho  was  a  child,  that 
their  next  leap,  would  be  over  the  Atlantic  into  America." 
With  the  assistance  of  an  octogenarian  neighbor,  lie  re- 
called a  couplet  that  had  been  repeated  with  rapture  as 
long  as  he  could  remember  :  — 

"  Tho  Kastern  imtiona  sink,  their  glory  ends, 
And  empire  rises  where  the  sun  descends." 

It  was  imagined  by  his  neighbor  that  these  lines  came 
from  some  of  our  early  pilgrims,  —  by  whom  they  had 
been  "inscribed,  or  rather  drilled,  into  a  rock  on  the 
shore  of  Monument  Bay  in  our  old  Colony  of  Plym- 
outh."! 

Another  illustration  of  this  same  sentiment  is  found 
in  Burnaby's  "  Travels  through  the  ^liddle  Settlements 
of  North  America,  in  1759  and  1760,"  a  work  first  pub- 
lished in  1775.  In  reflections  at  the  close  the  traveller 
remarks :  — 

"  An  idea,  strange  as  it  is  visionary,  has  entered  into  the 
minds  of  the  generality  of  mankind,  that  empire  is  travelllwj 
westward:  and  everyone  is  looking  forward  with  eager  and  im- 
patient expectation  to  that  destined  moment  when  America  is  to 
give  the  laio  to  the  rest  of  the  world."  ^ 

The  traveller  is  none  the  less  an  authority  for  the 
prevalence  of  this  sentiment  because  lie  declares  it  "  il- 
lusory and  fallacious,"  and  records  his  conviction  that 

1  Works,  Vol.  IX.  pp.  597-599. 

2  Burnaby,  Travels,  p.  115. 


SAMUEL  8EWALL,    17^7. 


27 


"  Amerin  is  formed  for  happiness,  but  not  fur  empire." 
Happy  America  !  What  empire  can  compare  witli  liap- 
piness  !  ^faking  amends  for  tliis  aihnission,  the  jtialous 
traveller,  in  his  edition  of  171)0,  after  the  achjption  of 
tlie  National  Constitution,  announces  that  "tlie  present 
union  of  American  States  will  not  be  permanent,  or  last 
for  any  considerable  length  of  time,"  and  "  tliat  that  ex- 
tensive country  must  necessarily  be  divided  into  sepa- 
rate states  and  kingdoms."  ^  Thus  far  the  Union  has 
stood  against  all  shocks,  foreign  or  domestic ;  and  tlie 
prophecy  of  Berkeley  is  more  than  ever  iu  th(j  popular 
mind. 


SAMUEL  SEWALL,   1727. 

Berkeley  e:iw  the  sun  of  empire  travelling  westward. 
A  contemporary  whose  home  was  uiade  in  New  Eng- 
land, Samuel  Sewall,  saw  the  New  Heaven  and  the  New 
Earth.  He  was  born  at  Bishop-Stoke,  England,  28th 
March,  1652,  and  died  at  Boston,  1st  January,  1730.  A 
child  emigrant  in  IGGl,  he  became  a  student  and  graduate 
of  our  Cambridge  ;  in  1G92,  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Massachusetts  ;  in  1718,  Chief  Justice.  He  was  of 
the  court  which  condennied  the  witches,  but  afterwards, 
standing  up  before  tlie  congregation  of  his  church,  made 
])ublic  confession  of  error,  and  his  secret  diary  bears 
testimony  to  liis  trial  of  conscience.  In  harmony  with 
this  contrition  was  his  early  feeling  for  the  enslaved 
African,  as  witness  his  tract  "  The  Selling  of  Joseph," 
so  that  he  may  be  called  the  first  of  our  Abolitionists. 

Besides  an  **  Answer  to  Queries  respecting  America," 
in  1690,  and  "  Proposals  touching  the  Accomplishment, 


Burnaby,  Travels,  Preface,  p.  21. 


1 


!     I 


.    ' 


, 


28 


rUOPlIETIC   VOICES   CONCEUNIXG   AMEIJICA. 


of  the  rropliecies,"  in  1713,  he  wrote  another  work,  with 
the  i'ollowing  title  :  — 

"  Pliiunomt'im  quiediim  Apocalyptica  ad  AHpcctum  Novi 
Orbis  conti<j;nrata.  Or  some  tew  Lines  towards  a  description 
of  the  New  Heaven  as  it  makes  to  tliose  who  stand  npoii 
the  New  Kartli,  By  Sanniel  Sewall  A.  M.  and  some  time  Fei- 
K)w  of  Harvard  College  at  Cambridge  in  New  England." 

The  copy  before  me  is  the  second  edition,  with  the 
imprint,  "  JMassacliiiset,  Doston  Printed  by  Bartholo- 
mew Green,  &  sold  by  Benjamin  Eliot,  Sanmel  Gerri«h 
&  Daniel  Henchman,  1727."  There  is  a  prophetic  voice 
even  in  the  title,  wliich  ])romises  "  some  few  lines  to- 
w^ards  a  description  of  the  New  Heaven  as  it  makes  to 
those  who  stand  npon  the  New  Earth."  This  is  followed 
by  verses  from  the  Scriptnres,  among  which  is  Isaiah 
xi.  14 :  "  But  they  shall  Hy  npon  the  shoulders  of  the 
Philistines  toward  the  west  "  ;  also,  Acts  i.  8  :  "  Ye  shall 
be  witnesses  unto  me  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth,"  —  quoting  here  from  the  Spanish  Bible,  Ilasta 
lo  rdtimo  de  la  ticrra. 

In  the  second  Dedication  the  author  speaks  of  his 
book  as  "this  vindication  of  America."  Then  comes, 
in  black  letter,  what  is  entitled  "Psalm,  139,7-10," 
containing  this  stanza  :  — 

*'  Yea,  let  mo  take  the  morning  wings 

And  let  me  go  and  hide. 
Even  there  wlicre  are  tlie  farthest  parts 

Wliere  flowing  sea  doth  slide. 
Yea,  even  thither  also  shall 

Thy  reaching  hand  me  guide; 
And  thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me  fast, 

And  make  me  to  abide." 

Two  different  dedications  follow,  the  first  dated  "  Bos- 


SAMUEL   SKWALL,    17^7. 


29 


ton,  K  E.,  April  lOtli,  1G07."  Here  are  words  on  tho 
same  key  with  the  title  :  — 

"  For  I  can't  but  think  that  cither  En<;lan(l  or  Now  En<j;- 
hind,  or  both  together  is  best,  is  the  only  bride-maid  men- 
tioned by  name  in  David's  K[)ithalamium  to  assist  at  tho 
great  wedding  now  shortly  to  bo  made Angels  in- 
cognito have  sometimes  made  themselves  guest>s  to  meii, 
designing  thereby  to  surprise  thein  with  a  requital  of  their 
love  to  strangers.  In  like  manner  tho  Knglish  nation  in 
showing  kindness  to  the  aboriginal  natives  of  Anjerica  may 

possibly    show    kindness    to    Israelites    unaware 

Instead  of  being  branded  for  slaves  with  hot  irons  in  the 
face  and  arms,  and  driven  by  scores  in  mortal  chains,  they 
shall  wear  the  name  of  God  in  their  foreheads,  and  they 
shall  bo  delivered  into  tho  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of 

(fod Asia,  Africa,   and  Europe    have  each  of  them 

had  a  glorious  gospel-day.  None,  therefore,  will  be  grieved 
at  any  one's  pleading  that  America  may  be  made  coj)arcencr 
with  her  sisters  in  the  free  and  sovereign  grace  of  God." 

Entering  upon  his  suhject,  our  prophet  says  :  — 

"  Whereas  New-Enriland,  and  Boston  of  tlio  Mnssachusets 
have  this  to  make  mention  of;  that  they  can  tell  their  Age, 
and  account  it  their  Honour  to  have  their  birth,  and  parent- 
age kept  in  everlasting  remembrance.  And  in  every  deed, 
the  families,  and  churches  which  first  ventured  to  follow 
Christ  thorovv  the  Atlantick  Ocean,  into  a  strange  land,  full 
of  wild  men,  were  so  religious  ;  their  end  so  holy  ;  their  self-" 
denyal  in  pursuing  of  it,  so  extraordinary  ;  that  I  can't  but 
hope  that  tho  plantation  has  thereby  gaind  a  very  strong 
Crasis  ;  and  that  it  will  not  bo  of  one  or  two,  or  three  cen- 
turies only ;  buo  by  the  Grace  of  God  it  will  be  very  long 
lasting."  ^ 

1  Page  1. 


I 


.1 


>' 


I  I 


■•; 


i, 


m 


}   t 


I- 


t 


f     ' 

%  ■ 


30  rUOl'lIKTIC   VOICES   CONCEIINING   AMKUICA. 

Then  a^'iiin:  — 

'*  Ncw-Jorusiilcrn  will  not  straiten,  and  onfi'cblo  ;  l)ut  won- 
derfully dilute,  and  invigorate  ( 'hriMtianity  in  the  several 
(Quarters  of  the  World,  in  Awia,  in  Africa,  in  Europe,  and  in 
America.  And  one  that  has  been  born,  or  but  liv'd  in 
America,  more  than  three  Hcoro  years  ;  it  may  bo  j)ardon- 
ablc  for  him  to  ask.  Why  may  not  that  be  the  place  of  New- 
JeruHalem."  ^ 

And  here  also  :  — 

"  Of  all  the  parts  of  the  world,  which  do  from  this  Char- 
ter, entitle  themselves  to  the  (Jovcrnment  of  Christ,  America's 
plea,  in  my  opinion  is  the  strongest.  For  when  once  Chris- 
topher Columbus  had  added  this  fourth  to  the  other  three 
I)art8  of  the  foreknown  World ;  they  who  sailed  farther 
Westward,  arriv'd  but  where  they  had  been  before.  The 
Clobo  now  failed  of  offering  any  thing  New  to  the  adven- 
turous Travailer  :  or  however,  it  could  not  afford  another 
new  World.  And  i)robal)ly,  the  consideration  o[  America's 
being  the  bei/inninrf  of  the  East,  and  the  Knd  of  the  Wfst ;  was 
that  which  moved  Columbus  to  call  some  part  of  it  by  the 
Name  of  Alpha  and  Omega.  Now  if  the  last  Adam  did  give 
order  for  the  engraving  of  his  own  name  upon  this  last 
Earth  :  'twill  draw  with  it  great  Consequences ;  even  such 
as  will,  in  time,  bring  the  poor  Americans  out  of  their 
Graves,  and  make  them  live.""' 

Again  he  says  :  — 

"  May  it  not  with  more  or  equal  strength  be  argued  New 
Jerusalem  is  not  the  same  with  Jerusalem  :  but  as  Jeru- 
salem was  to  the  westward  of  Babylon,  so  New  Jerusalem 
must  be  to  the  westward  of  Rome,  to  avoid  disturbance  in 
the  order  of  mysteries.'" 


1  Pages  1,  2. 


a  Pages  2,  3. 


8  Page  31. 


SAMUEL   SEWAI.L,    1727. 


81 


Then  quoting?  tlio  English  vorses  of  IIcrlKMt,  and  tho 
T.atin  vorH("j  of  Cowley,  he  says:  "  Not  douhtiiij,'  l)ut  tliut 
these  uuthorities,  hning  hrouglit  to  the  king's  scales,  will 
be  over  weiglit."* 

Afterwards  he  adduces  "  learmMl  Mr.  Nic^hol.is  Fuller," 
who  woulil  have  it  helieved  that  America  was  first 
])e()|)led  "  hy  the  posterity  of  our  great-grandfatiier 
Jai»hetli,  though  he  will  not  be  very  strict  witli  us 
as  to  the  particular  branch  of  tliat  w'nU'  family."  The 
extract  from  this  new  authority  is  remarkable  for  its 
vindication  to  Columi)Us  of  the  name  of  the  new  Con- 
tinent. "  Quani  passim  American!  dicunt,  vere  ac  merito 
Columbinam  potius  diccrent,  a  magnanimo  heroe  Chris- 
tophoro  Columbo  (Jennonsi  primo  terrarum  illarum  in- 
vestigatore  at(|ne  inventore  [)lane  divinitus  constituto."  * 
Tliis  designation  he  adopts  in  his  own  text :  thus, 
"Hinc  ergo  Columbina  primum";^  then  again,  "  Multo 
is  quideni  proprior  est  Columbina"  ;*  then  again,  "Ame- 
rica seu  verius  Columbina";^  then  again,  "liepertam 
fuisse  Columbinam."®  This  effort  draws  frorn  our 
prophet  a  comment :  — 

"  But  whv  should  a  learned  Man  make  all  this  Dirifie  for 
Columbus's  Name !  What  matter  is  it  how  America  be 
called  1     For  Flavio  of  Malphi   in  Naples  hath,   in   great 


1  Pape  34. 

2  "Which  everywhere  they  call  America  ;  truly  and  desorverlly  they 
should  say  rather  Columbina  from  the  magnanimous  hero  Christopher  Co- 
lumbus, tho  Genoese,  first  explorer,  and  plainly  divinely  appointed  discoverer 
of  these  lands."  —  Miscell.  Sac,  Lib.  IL  cap.  4  in  fine.  See  also  cap.  84 
and  85. 

8  "  Hence,  therefore,  Columbina  first." 
*  "  It  is  indeed  much  nearer  to  Columbina." 
6  •'  America,  or  more  truly  Columbina." 
8  "That  Columbina  would  be  found." 


m 


1!  'i 


32 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


measure,  applied  the  vertues  of  the  loadstone  to  the 
Mariners  Compass  in  Vain;  the  Portugals  have  found  the 
length  of  Africa's  foot  in  Vain ;  the  Spaniards  sent  out 
the  Italian  Dove,  in  Vain  ;  Sir  Francis  Drake  hath  sailed 
round  the  world,  and  made  thorow  Lights  to  it,  in  Vain ; 
and  Hackluyt  and  Purchas  have,  with  endless  Labour,  ac- 
quainted Englishmen  with  these  things  in  Vain  :  If  after 
all,  we  go  about  to  turn  the  American  Euphrates  into  a 
Stygian  Lake  !  The  breaking  of  this  One  Instrument,  spoils 
us  of  the  long  expected,  and  much  desired,  Consort  of  Mu- 
sick."i 

Very  soon  thereafter  he  breaks  forth  in  words,  printed 
in  large  Italic  type  and  made  prophetic  :  — 

"  Lift  up  your  heads,  0  ye  Gates  [of  Columbina],  and 
he  ye  lift  up,  ye  Everlasting  Doors,  and  the  KING  of  Glory 
shall  come  in." 


w: : 


MARQUIS  D'ARGENSON,    1745. 

From  the  Puritan  son  of  New  England,  pass  now  to 
a  different  character.  Eend  Louis  de  Voyer,  Marquis 
d'Argenson,  a  French  noble,  was  born  18th  October, 
1694,  and  died  26th  January,  1757,  so  that  his  life 
lapped  npon  the  prolonged  reigns  of  Louis  XIV.  and 
Louis  XY.  At  college  the  comrade  of  Voltaire,  he  was 
ever  afterwards  the  friend  and  correspondent  of  this 
great  writer.  His  own  thoughts,  commended  oj  the 
style  of  the  other,  would  have  placed  him  among  the 
most  illustrious  of  French  history.  Notwithstanding 
strange  eccentricities,  he  was  often  elevated,  far-sighted, 
and  prophetic,  above  any  other  Frenchman  except  Tur- 

1  Page  60. 


MARQUIS   D'aRGENSON,    1745. 


33 


got.  By  the  courtieis  of  Versailles  he  was  called  "  the 
stupid"  {la  hJtc),  while  liousseau  hailed  one  of  his  pro- 
ductions, yet  in  manuscri[)t,  as  "  the  work  of  Aristides." 
Tlie  Duke  of  liichelieu,  borrowing  perhaps  from  Vol- 
taire, called  him  "  Secretary  of  State  for  tlie  llepublic  of 
Plato  "  ;  and  the  latter  pronounced  him  "  the  first  citizen 
who  had  ever  reached  the  ministry." 

Except  a  brief  suliordinate  service  and  two  years  of 
the  Cabinet  as  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  his  life  was 
passed  in  meditation  and  composition,  especially  on 
subjects  of  government  and  human  improvement.  This 
was  his  great  passion.  "  if  being  in  power,"  he  wrote, 
"  I  knew  a  capable  man,  I  would  go  on  all  fours  to  seek 
him,  to  pray  him  to  serve  me  as  counsellor  and  tutor."  ^ 
Is  not  this  a  lesson  to  the  heedless  partisan  ? 

He  was  an  active  member  of  a  small  club  devoted  1o 
hardy  specuhition,  commencing  in  1725,  and  known,  froni 
its  place  of  meeting  at  the  apartment  of  one  of  its  mem- 
bers, as  VEntrc-Sol.  It  is  to  his  honor  that  he  mingled 
here  with  Abbe  Saint-Pierre,  and  sympatliized  entirely 
with  the  many-sided,  far-sighted  plans  of  this  "good 
man."  In  the  privacy  of  his  journal  he  records  his  hom- 
age :  "  This  worthy  citizen  is  not  known,  and  he  does 
not  know  himself.  ....  He  has  much  intelligence,  and 
has  given  himself  to  a  kind  of  philosophy  ])rofound  and 
abandoned  by  everybody,  which  is  true  politics  destined 
to  procure  the  greatest  happiness  of  men."  ^  In  praising 
Saint-Pierre  our  author  furnished  a  measure  of  himself. 

The  work  w^hich  excited  the  admiration  of  Rousseau  ' 
was  Considerations  sur  le  Goitverncment  ancien  et  present 
de  la  France,  which  was  rei 


i^y 


1  Journnl  et  Mc^nioires,  Tom.  I.  p.  xlvii.,  Introduction. 

2  Ibid.,  Feb  ,  1734,  Tom.  I.  p.  185. 

2* 


early 


as 


f 


»■'■ 


34 


PROPHETIC  VOICES   CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


1730,  but  (lid  not  see  the  light  till  some  years  after  the 
death  of  the  autlior.  It  first  appeared  at  Amsterdam  in 
1764,  and  in  a  short  time  there  were  no  less  than  four 
editions  in  Holland.  In  1784  and  1787  a  more  accu- 
rate edition  appeared  in  France,  and  soon  another  at  the 
command  and  expense  of  tlie  Assembly  of  Notables. 
Here  was  a  recognition  of  the  people  and  an  inquiry 
how  far  democracy  was  consistent  with  monarchical 
government.  Believing  much  in  the  people  and  anx- 
ious for  their  happiness,  he  had  not  ceased  to  believe 
in  kings.  The  book  was  contained  in  the  epigraph 
from  the  Britannicus  of  Eacine:  — 

"  Que  dans  Ic  cours  d'un  regno  florissant, 
Rome  soil  tovjours  libre,  ct  Caesar  tout-puissant." 

Otlier  works  followed,  some  of  which  are  still  in 
manuscript,  and  others  were  published  tardily,  as  the 
"  Journal  and  ^Memoirs,"  in  eight  volumes ;  "  Essays 
in  the  Style  of  those  of  Montaigne " ;  "  Memoirs  of 
State " ;  "  Foreign  Affairs,  containing  Memoirs  of  my 
Ministry  " ;  "  Remarks  while  Reading  " ;  and  especially, 
"  Thoughts  on  the  Reformation  of  the  State " ;  ^  also, 
"Thoughts  since  my  Leaving  the  Ministry."  In  all 
these  there  is  a  communicativeness  like  that  of  Saint 
Simon  in  his  Memoirs,  and  of  Rousseau  in  his  Confes- 
sions, without  the  wonderful  talent  of  either.  The  ad- 
vanced ideas  of  the  author  are  constantly  conspicuous, 
making  him  foremost  among  contemporaries  in  dis- 
cerning the  questions  of  the  future.  Even  of  marriage 
he  writes  in  the  spirit  of  some  modern  reformers :  "  It  is 
necessary  to  press  the  people  to  marriage,  vmitmg  for 
something  better.'"     This  is  an  instance.      His  reforms 

1  Pensdes  sur  la  Reformation  de  I'Etat,  2  vols,  in  4to. 


m 


MARQUIS   D'aRGENSON,   1745. 


35 


the 


M 


embraced  nothing  less  tlian  tlie  suppression  of  feudal 
privileges  and  of  tlie  right  of  primogeniture,  uniformity 
of  weights  and  measures,  judges  irremovable  and  salaried 
by  the  State,  the  disn)issal  of  foreign  troops,  and  tlie 
residence  of  the  king  and  his  ministers  in  tlie  capital 
embellished  by  vast  S([uares,  pierced  by  broad  streets, 
•*  with  the  hois  tie  Boulofjnc  for  country."  This  is  the 
Paris  of  latter  days.  Add  to  this  the  sup])ression  of 
cemeteries,  hospitals,  and  slaughter-houses  in  tlie  interior 
of  Paris,  and  many  other  things,  omitting  omnibuses  but 
including  balloons.  "Here  is  something,"  he  records, 
"  which  will  be  treated  as  folly.  I  am  persuaded  that 
one  of  the  first  famous  discoveries  to  make,  and  reserved 
perhaps  for  our  age,  is  to  find  the  art  of  living  in  the 
air."     And  he  proceeds  to  describe  the  balloon.^ 

His  large  nature  is  manifest  in  cosmopolitan  ideas,  and 
the  inquiry  if  it  were  not  well  to  consider  one's  self  "as 
citizen  of  the  world,"  more  than  is  the  usage.  Here  his 
soul  glows :  — 

"  What  a  small  corner  Europe  has  on  the  round  earth  ! 
What  lands  remain  to  inhabit !  See  this  immense  extent  of 
three  parts  of  the  world,  and  of  undiscovered  lands  at  the 
north  and  south  !  If  people  went  there  with  other  views 
than  that  disagreeable  exclusive  property,  all  these  lands 
would  be  inhabited  in  two  centuries.  We  shall  not  see  this, 
but  it  will  come."  ^ 

And  then,  after  coupling  morals  and  well-being,  he 
announces  the  true  rule:  "An  individual  who  shall  do 
well  will  succeed,  and  who  shall  do  ill  will  fail ;  it  is 
the  same  vnth  nations"    This  is  just  and  lofty.    In  such 


1  .Tonrnnl  et  Jl^moires,  Tom.  I.  p.  liv.,  Introduction. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  xxxiii.,  Introduction. 


'WU|V.pi!t|Hlil||.«,  JIU^piJfJ.!ll,iiLljjpi|PJPI|ipiiWI|ll 


^    I 


?>G 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


a,  spirit  he  cherished  plans  of  political  reconstruction  in 
ioieign  nations,  especially  in  Italy.  The  old  Italian  cry 
was  his  :  "  The  barbarians  must  be  driven  from  Italy  " ; 
and  he  contemplated  "  one  Ifepublic  or  eternal  associa- 
tion of  Italian  powers,  as  there  was  one  German,  one 
Dutch,  one  Helvetic,"  and  he  called  this  "  the  greatest 
affair  that  had  been  treated  in  Europe  for  a  long  time."  ^ 
Tiie  entry  of  Italy  was  to  be  closed  to  the  Enq^eror;  and 
he  adds :  "  For  ourselves  what  a  happy  privation,  if  we 
are  excluded  forever  from  the  necessity  of  sending  there 
our  armies  to  triumi^h,  but  to  perish."^ 

Tlie  intelligence  that  saw  Italy  so  clearly  saw  France 
also,  and  her  exigencies,  marking  out  "  a  national  senate 
composed  equally  of  all  the  orders  of  the  state,"  and 
which,  on  questions  of  peace  and  war,  would  hold  the 
kings  in  check  by  the  necessity  of  obtaining  supplies  "  ;^ 
also  saw  the  api)roaching  decay  of  Turkey,  and  wished 
to  make  Greece  flourishing  once  more,  to  acquire  pos- 
session of  the  holy  places,  to  overcome  the  barbarians  of 
Northern  Africa  by  a  union  of  Christian  powers,  which 
"  well  united  once  in  a  kind  of  Christian  Republic,  ac- 
cording to  the  project  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  detailed  by 
the  Abbe  Saint-Pierre,  w^ould  have  something  better  to 
do  than  to  fight  to  destroy  eacli  other  as  they  do." 
Naturally  this  singular  precocious  intelligence  reached 
across  the  Atlantic,  and  here  he  became  one  of  our 
prophets. 

"Another  great  event  to  arrive  upon  the  round  earth 
is  this.     The  English  have  in  Northern  America  domains 

1  Sainte  Beuve,  Causeries  du  Lundi,  Tom.  XII.  p.  105  :     Le  Marquis 
d'Argenson. 

2  Journal  et  M^moires,  p.  xxxvii.,  Introduction. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  368,  Appendix. 


MARQUIS   DARGENSON,   1745. 


37 


great,  strong,  rich,  well  regulated.  There  are  in  New  Eng- 
land a  parliament,  governors,  troops,  white  inhabitants  in 
abundance,  riches,  and  mariners,  which  is  worse. 

"  I  say  that  some  bright  morning  these  dominations  can 
separate  from  England,  rise  and  erect  themselves  into  an  in- 
dependent republic. 

"  What  will  happen  from  this?  Do  people  think  of  thisi 
A  country  well  regulated  by  the  arts  of  Europe,  in  condition 
to  communicate  witli  it  by  the  present  perfection  of  its  mai-iuo, 
and  which  by  this  will  appropriate  our  arts  in  proj)ortion  to 
their  improvement ;  patience !  Such  a  country  in  several 
ages  will  make  great  progress  in  population  and  in  j)olite- 
ness  ;  such  a  countrv  will  render  itself  in  a  short  time  master 
of  America,  and  es])ecially  of  the  gold-mines."^ 

Then,  dwelling  on  the  extension  of  coniniercial  liberty 
and  the  improvement  of  the  means  of  communication, 
he  exclaims,  with  lyrical  outburst :  — 

"  And  you  will  then  see  how  the  earth  will  be  beautiful  ! 
What  culture  !  What  new  arts  and  new  sciences !  What 
safety  for  commerce  !  Navigation  will  precipitate  all  the 
peoples  towards  each  other.  A  day  will  come  when  one  will 
go  in  a  populous  and  regulated  city  of  California  as  one  goes 
in  the  stage-coach  of  Meaux."  ^ 

The  published  works  of  P'Ara'enson  do  not  enable  us 
to  fix  the  precise  date  of  these  remarkable  words.  Tliey 
are  from  the  "Thoughts  on  the  I^eformation  of  the 
State,"  but  these  extend  over  a  long  period  of  time,  be- 
ginning as  early  as  1733,  while  his  intimacy  with  the 
Abbe  Saint-Pierre  was  at  its  height.    Placing  them  mid- 


1  Pons^es  sur  la  Rdfoiination  de  I'Etat:  Journal  et  Mcf'tnoirop,  Introdnp- 
tion.  Iv,  Ivi. 

2  Jbi<l.,  Ivi. 


w 


38 


rnoniETic  voices  co>jcerning  America. 


way  between  the  earli(jst  entry  of  that  work  and  his 
death,  tlieir  date  may  be  1745,  during  his  ministry,  tlius 
preceding  Turgot  and  Jolin  Adams.  But  each  spoke 
from  his  own  soul  and  without  prompting. 

TURGOT,  1750,  1770,  1776,  1778. 

Among  the  illustrious  names  of  France  few  equal  that 
of  Turgot.  He  was  a  philosopher  among  ministers,  and 
a  minister  among  philosophers.  Malesherbes  said  of 
him,  that  he  had  the  heart  of  L'llopital  and  the  head 
of  IJacon.  Such  a  person  in  public  affairs  was  an  epoch 
for  his  country  and  for  the  human  race.  Had  his  spirit 
prevailed,  the  bloody  drama  of  the  French  Iicvolution 
would  not  have  occurred,  or  it  would  at  least  liave  been 
postponed.  I  think  it  could  not  have  occurred.  He 
was  a  good  man,  who  sought  to  carry  into  government 
the  rides  of  goodness.  His  career  from  beginning  to 
end  was  one  continuous  beneficence.  Such  a  nature 
W'as  essentially  prophetic,  for  he  discerned  the  natural 
law.s  by  which  the  future  is  governed. 

He  was  of  an  ancient  Norman  family,  whose  name 
suggests  the  god  Thor;  he  was  born  at  Paris,  1727,  and 
died,  1781.  Being  a  younger  son,  he  was  destined  for 
the  Church,  and  commenced  his  studies  as  an  ecclesias- 
tic at  the  ancient  Sorbonne.  Before  registerng  an 
irrevocable  voav,  he  announced  his  repugnance  to  the 
profession,  and  turned  aside  to  other  pursuits.  Law, 
literature,  science,  humanity,  government,  now  engaged 
his  attention.  He  associated  himself  with  the  authors 
of  the  Encyclopaedia,  and  became  one  of  its  contribu- 
tors. In  other  writings  he  vindicated  especially  the 
virti  e  of  toleration.      Not  merely  a  theorist,  he  soon 


TUUGOT,    1750. 


3'J 


arrived  at  the  higli  post  of  Intendant  of  Limousin,  where 
he  developed  talent  for  administration  and  sympathy 
with  tlie  i)eople.  The  potato  came  into  tliat  province 
through  him.  Jiut  he  continued  to  employ  his  pen, 
especially  on  (questions  of  political  economy,  whicli  he 
treated  as  a  master.  On  tlie  accession  of  Louis  XVL 
he  was  called  to  the  cabinet  as  Minister  of  the  Marine, 
and  shortly  afterwards  gave  up  this  place  to  be  tlie  head 
of  the  finances.  Here  he  began  a  system  of  rigid  econ- 
omy, founded  on  curtailment  of  expenses  and  enlarge- 
ment of  resources.  The  latter  was  obtained  especially 
by  removal  of  disabilities  from  trade,  whether  at  home 
or  abroad,  and  the  substitution  of  a  single  tax  on  land 
for  a  complex  multiplicity  of  taxes.  The  enemies  of 
progress  were  too  strong  at  that  time,  and  the  king  dis- 
missed the  reformer.  Good  men  in  France  became 
anxious  for  the  future ;  Voltaire,  in  his  distant  retreat, 
gave  a  shriek  of  despair,  and  addressed  to  Turgot  re- 
markable verses  entitled  EpUre  a  itn  Homme.  Worse 
still,  the  good  edicts  of  the  minister  were  rescinded,  and 
society  was  put  back. 

The  discarded  minister  gave  himself  to  science,  lit- 
erature, and  friendship.  He  welcomed  Franklin  to 
France  and  to  immortality  in  a  Latin  verse  of  marvel- 
lous felicity.  He  was  already  the  companion  of  the 
liberal  spirits  who  were  doing  so  much  for  knowledge 
and  for  reform.  By  writing  and  by  conversation  he 
exercised  a  constant  influence.  His  "  ideas "  seem  to 
illumine  the  time.  We  may  be  content  to  follow  him 
in  saying,  "  The  glory  of  arms  cannot  compare  with  the 
happiness  of  living  in  peace."  He  anticipated  our  defi- 
nition of  a  republic,  when  he  said  "  it  was  formed  upon 
the  equality  of  all  the  citizens^'  —  good  words,  not  yet 


40 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


practically  verified  in  all  our  States.  Such  a  govern- 
iiieiit  he,  living  under  a  monarchy,  bravely  pronounced 
the  best  of  all ;  but  he  added  that  he  "  had  never  known 
a  constitution  truly  repul>lican."  Tliis  was  in  1778. 
With  similar  plainness  he  announced  that  "  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Ottoman  empire  would  be  a  real  good  for  all 
the  nations  of  Europe,"  and,  he  added  still  further,  for 
humanity  also,  because  it  would  involve  the  abolition  of 
negro  slavery,  and  because  to  strip  "  our  oppressors  is 
not  to  attack,  but  to  vindicate,  the  common  rights  of 
humanity."  With  such  thoughts  and  aspirations,  the 
prophet  died. 

But  I  have  no  purpose  of  writing  a  biography,  or  even 
a  character.  All  that  I  intend  is  an  introduction  to 
Turgot's  prophetic  words.  Wlien  only  twenty-three 
years  of  age,  while  still  an  ecclesiastic  at  the  Sorbonne, 
the  future  minister  delivered  a  discourse  on  the  Progress 
of  the  Human  Mind,  in  which,  after  descril)ing  the  com- 
mercial triumphs  of  the  ancient  Phoenicians,  covering 
the  coasts  of  Greece  and  Asia  with  their  colonies,  he 
lets  drop  these  remarkable  words  :  — 

"  Los  colonies  sont  commo  des  fiMiits  qui  ne  ticnncnt  a 
I'arbro  quo  jusqu'ii  leur  maturity  ;  devenucs  suffisantes  b. 
clles-mumcs,  cllcs  firent  co  quo  fit  depuis  Carthage,  —  ce 
que  fera  un  jour  VAmerique,'^  ^ 

"  Colonies  are  like  fruits,  which  hold  to  the  tree  only  un- 
til their  maturitv  ;  when  sufficient  for  themselves,  thcv  did 
tbat  which  Cartilage  afterwards  did,  —  that  ivhich  some  day 
America  ivill  do" 

On  this  most  suggestive  declaration,  Dupont  de  !N"e- 

1  Turfjot,  Olnvres,  Tom.  IT.  p.  fiG.  Soe  nlso  Condorcet,  CEiivres,  Tom. 
TV.,  Vie  (Ic  Tnrojot ;  Louis  Blanc,  Histoire  de  la  Revolution  Francjaise,  Tom. 
I  pp.  527-533. 


TUllGOT,   1750. 


41 


mours,  tho  editor  of  Turgot's  works,  in  1808,  remarks  in 
a  note :  — 

"It  was  in  ITSO  that  M.  Tiirgot,  beinjjf  then  only  twenty- 
three  years  old,  and  devoted  in  a  seminary  to  the  study  of 
theology,  divined,  foresaw  the  revolution  which  has  formed 
the  United  States,  —  which  has  detached  them  from  the 
Kuropean  power  apparently  the  most  capable  of  retaining  its 
colonies  \mder  its  domination." 

At  the  time  Turgot  wrote,  Canada  was  a  French  pos- 
session ;  but  his  words  are  as  applicalde  to  this  colony 
as  to  the  United  States.     When  will  the  fruit  be  ripe  ? 

In  contrast  with  this  precise  prediction,  and  yet  in 
harmony  with  it,  are  the  words  of  Montes(j^uieu,  in  his 
ingenious  work,  which  saw  the  light  in  1748,  two  years 
before  the  discourse  of  Turgot.  In  the  famous  chapter, 
"How  the  laws  contribute  to  form  the  manners,  cus- 
toms, and  character  of  a  nation,"  we  have  a  much- 
admired  picture  of  a  "free  nation,"  — "  inlui.  iting  an 
island,"  —  where,  without  naming  England,  it  is  easy  to 
recognize  her  greatness  and  glory.  And  here  we  meet  a 
Delphic  passage,  also  without  a  name,  pointing  to  the 
British  Colonies  :  ^  — 

"  If  this  nation  sent  out  colonics,  it  would  do  it  more  to 
extend  its  commerce  than  its  empire. 

"  As  people  like  to  establish  elsewhere  what  is  found  es- 
tablished at  home,  it  would  give  to  the  people  of  its  colo- 
nies its  own  form  of  cfovernment,  and  this  government 
carrying  with  it  pros;;erity,  we  should  see  great  jjeoples  form 
themselves  in  the  very  forests  rvhich  it  sent  them  to  inhahit^ 

The  future  greatness  of  the  Colonies  is  insinuated 

1  De  I'Esprit  des  Loi?,  Livre  XIX.  Chap.  XXVII. 


"pamifl 


42 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


.n; 


il 


ratlier  tliau  forotolcl,  and  licio  the  prophetic  voice  is  si- 
lent. Nothiii*,'  is  said  of  the  impending  separation  and 
the  beginning  of  a  new  nation  ;  so  that  plainly  Montes- 
quieu saw  our  future  less  than  Turgot. 

The  youthful  prophet  did  not  lose  his  penetrating 
vision  with  years.  In  the  same  spirit  and  with  im- 
mense vigor  he  wrote  to  the  English  philosopher,  J osiah 
Tucker,  September  17,  1770:  — 

*'  As  a  citizen  of  the  world,  I  see  with  joy  the  approach 
of  an  event  whicli,  more  than  all  the  books  of  philosophers, 
will  dissipate  the  phantom  of  commercial  jealousy.  / 
mean  the  separation  of  your  colonies  from  the  mother 
country^  ^\w\i  will  hk  followed  soon  uy  tu^t  of  all 
America  from  EuRon:,  It  is  then  that  the  discovery  of 
this  part  of  the  world  will  become  to  ns  truly  useful.  It  is 
then  that  it  will  multiply  our  enjoyments  much  more 
abundantly  than  when  we  purchased  them  with  torrents  of 
blood.  The  English,  the  French,  the  Spaniards,  will  use 
sugar,  coffee,  indigo,  and  will  sell  their  products  precisely  as 
the  Swiss  do  to-day,  and  they  will  have  also,  as  the  Swiss 
people,  the  advantage  that  this  suijar,  this  coft'ee,  this  indigo, 
will  serve  no  longer  as  a  pretext  for  intriguers  to  precipitate 
their  nation  into  ruinous  wars  and  to  oppress  them  with 
tuxes." ' 

It  is  impossible  not  to  feel  in  this  passage  the  sure 
grasp  of  our  American  destiny.  How  clearly  and  cou- 
rageously he  announces  the  inevitable  future  !  But  the 
French  philosopher-statesman  again  took  the  tripod. 

This  was  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  Minister  of 
the  Crown  and  in  reply  to  a  special  application.     His 

1  (Euvres  (ed.  Daire),  Tom.  II.  p.  803. 


TUUGOT,    1778. 


43 


noble  opinion  is  dated  Cth  April,  1770.  Us  cluiraeter 
upl)eurs  in  a  tew  sentences  :  — 

••  The  present  war  will  probably  end  in  the  absolute  inde- 
pendence of  the  colonies,  and  tliut  event  will  certainly  bo  the. 
epock  of  tilt  (/reatest  nvolution  in  the  eommeire  ami  j>o/itics  not 

of  ICn'jlaiui  oiili/,  but  of  all  Kiirojie When  the  Kn;;Iish 

themselves  shall  recognize  the  independence  of  their  colonies, 
tvery  mother  eonntry  will  be  forced  in  like  manner  to  exchange 
its  dominion  over  its  colonies  for  bonds  of  friendship  and  fra- 
ternity  \S\\Q\\i\\\i  total  srparation  of  America  ^\\i\\\\\\x\o 

healed  the  Enropean  nations  of  the  jealousy  of  connncrcc,  there 
will  exist  ainong  men  one  great  cause  of  war  the  less,  and  it 
is  very  difficult  not  to  desire  an  event  which  is  to  accomplish 
this  good  for  the  human  race."  ^ 

His  letter  to  the  English  iJr.  Price,  on  the  American 
Constitution,  abounds  in  profound  observations  and  in 
prophecy.  It  was  written  just  at  the  time  whei?  France 
openly  joined  against  England  in  our  war  of  Indepen- 
dence, and  is  dated  March  22, 1778,^  but  did  not  see  the 
light  until  1784,  some  years  after  the  deatli  of  the  au- 
thor, when  it  M'as  published  by  Dr.  Price.^  Its  criti- 
cism of  tlie  American  constitutions  aroused  John  Adams 
to  his  elaborate  work  in  their  "  Defence."  * 

Of  our  Union  before  the  adoption  of  the  National 
Constitution  he  writes  :  — 

"  In  the  general  union  of  the  provinces  among  themselves 
I  do  not  see  a  coalition,  a  fusion  of  all  the  parts,  making 
but  one  body,  one  and  homogeneous. 


It  is  nothing  but  an 


1  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VTII.  pp.  337,  338. 

2  Tnrpot,  (Euvres  fed.  Daire),  Tom.  II.  805-811. 

8  Observations  on  the  Importance  of  the  American  Revolution,  Appendix. 
♦  Works,  Vol.  IV.  278-281,  where  Is  found  the  larger  part  of  the  letter  of 
Turgot. 


44 


rUOI'IIKTIC    VOICKS   CONCKUMNd   AMKUICA. 


i 

M 


a^'j^rc^ation  of  parts  always  too  separated,  and  preserving 
always  a  tendency  to  division,  thronj^h  the  diversity  of  laws, 
manners,  oj)ini«)nM, — -  thronj^h  the  ine(iuality  of  their  actual 
forces,  —  more  also  l>y  the  ine(|uality  of  their  ulterior  pro- 
gress. It  is  nothing  hut  a  cojjv  of  the  Dutch  Jtepuhlic  ; 
but  this  never  had  anythinj^  to  fear  as  the  American  llv- 
public  from  possible  increase  of  some  of  its  provinces.  All 
this  edifice  is  supported  down  to  this  time  on  the  false  basis 
of  the  very  ancient  and  very  vul;;ar  i)olitics,  on  the  preju- 
dice that  nations  and  provinces  can  have  interests,  as 
nations  and  provinces,  dill'erent  from  those  of  in<iividuals  to 
be  free  and  to  defend  their  property  against  brigands  and 
concpierors  ;  a  pretended  in'.erest  to  have  more  connnerco 
than  others,  not  to  buy  merchandise  abroad,  to  force  for- 
eigner to  consume  their  productions  and  their  manufac- 
tures ;  a  pretended  interest  to  have  a  vaster  territory,  to 
ac(piire  this  or  that  province,  this  or  that  island,  this  or 
that  village  ;  an  interest  to  insj)iro  fear  in  other  nation- 
interest  to  surpass  them  in  the  glory  of  arms,  in  that  of  ai 
and  sciences." 

Among  the  evils  to  be  overcome  are,  in  the  Southern 
Colonies  too  great  an  inequality  of  fortunes,  and  espe- 
cially the  large  number  of  black  slaves,  whose  slavery 
is  incompatible  -with  a  good  political  constitution,  and 
who,  even  when  restored  to  liberty,  will  cause  embar- 
rassment by  forming  two  nations  in  the  same  State.  In 
all  the  Colonies  he  deprecates  prejudice,  attachment  to 
established  forms,  the  preservation  of  certain  taxes,  the 
fear  of  those  which  should  be  substituted,  the  vanity  of 
the  Colonies  who  deem  themselves  most  powerful,  and 
the  wretched  beginning  of  national  i)ride.  Happily  he 
adds  :  "  I  think  the  Americans  forced  to  aggrandizement, 
not  by  war,  but  by  husbandry."  And  he  then  proceeds 
to  his  aspirations  :  — 


TUiinoT,  I7r.(). 


43 


'•  It  is  inii)()SMil)lu  mtt  to  oHlt  vows  thut  this  |K'tt[(lo  nmy 
firrivo  ut  uU  tin-  pKmpcrity  of  \vhii;li  it  i«  «ii!Si;i'i»til)lo.  It  is 
tlu!  hojK!  of  tlio  IniiMiin  nico.  It  cuii  Ir'cohio  its  model.  It 
must  provo  to  tlio  world,  Ity  the  fiict,  that  iiu'ii  ciin  ho  fivo 
mid  tniiKjiiil,  and  ciiii  disi»t'iiso  with  the  clmiiis  of  nil  kinds 
which  the  tymnts  und  chiirliitiius  of  ayery  cloth  hiivc  pro- 
tended to  impose  under  the  pretext  of  puhlie  j;ood.  It 
must  ^Mve  the  example  of  political  liherty,  of  relij^'ious  lili- 
ertv,  of  conunercial  and  industrial  liherty.  The  asylum 
which  it  opens  to  the  oppressed  of  all  nations  must  console 
the  earth.  The  facility  it  affords  for  escape  from  a  had 
government  will  force  the  European  j,'overnments  to  ho  just 
and  enlightened.  The  rest  of  the  world,  littlo  hy  little,  will 
o[)en  their  eyes  to  the  nothingness  of  the  illusions  in  which 
politicians  have  nursed  them.  To  this  end  it  is  necessary 
that  America  should  tak(>  guaranties,  and  should  not  he- 
come,  as  so  many  of  yout  ministerial  writers  have  repeated, 
an  image  of  an  Kiu'ope,  d  kiap  of  divided  J'ovwrs,  disputing 
ahout  territory  or  conunercial  ])rotits,  and  continually  ce- 
menting the  slavery  of  people  with  their  own  hlood." 

After  these  admirable  thoughts,  so  full  of  ^vis(lonl 
and  ])roi)he('.y,  Turgot  alludes  to  the  inii)endiiig  war 
between  France  and  England  :  — 

"  Our  two  nations  arc  going  to  do  each  other  reciprocally 
much  evil,  i)robably  without  either  obtaining  any  real  ad- 
vantage. The  increase  of  debts  and  liabilities  and  the  ruin 
of  a  great  many  citizens  will  be,  perhaps,  the  only  result. 
England  seems  nearer  to  this  than  France.  If  instead  of 
this  war  you  had  been  able  to  act  in  good  spirit  from  the 
first  moment,  —  if  it  had  been  given  to  government  to  do  in 
advance  what  infallibly  it  will  be  forced  to  do  later,  —  if 
national  opinion  had  permitted  your  government  to  antici- 
pate events,  —  and,  supposing  that  it  had  foreseen  them,  it 
had  been  able  to  consent  at  once  to  the  Independence  of 


"  .1 


kit 


46 


PROniETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


America  without  making  war  on  anybody,  —  I  am  firmly 
convinced  that  your  nation  would  have  lost  nothing  by 
the  change.  It  \>ill  lose  now  what  it  has  already  expended, 
and  what  it  shall  expend  besides.  It  will  experience  for 
some  time  a  great  falling  off"  in  its  commerce,  great  domestic 
disturbances,  if  it  is  forced  to  bankruptcy,  and,  whatever 
may  arrive,  a  great  diminution  in  its  influence  abroad. 
But  this  last  matter  is  of  small  importance  in  the  real  hap- 
piness of  a  people.  I  do  not  think  it  can  make  you  become 
a  coT»<^''mptiblc  nation,  and  throw  you  into  slavery. 

"Your  present  troubles,  your  future  happiness,  will  be  at- 
tributed to  a  necessary  amputation,  which  is,  perhaps,  the 
oily  means  of  saving  you  from  the  gangrene  of  luxury  and 
corruption.  If  in  your  agitations  you  could  connect  your 
Constitution  by  rendering  elections  annual,  by  apportioning 
the  right  of  representation  so  that  it  shall  be  more  equal 
and  more  proportioned  to  the  interests  of  those  represented, 
you  would  gain  from  this  revolution  as  much,  perhaps,  as 
America ;  for  your  liberty  wonld  remain,  and  with  this  and 
by  this  your  other  losses  would  repair  themselves." 

Heading  such  words,  the  heart  throbs  and  the  pulse 
beats.  Government  inspired  by  such  a  SjMrit  would  be- 
come divine,  nations  would  live  at  peace  together,  and 
people  everywhere  be  happy. 


HORACE  WALPOLE,  1754,  1777,  1779. 

Most  unlike  Turgot  in  character,  but  with  something 
of  the  same  spirit  of  prophecy,  and  associated  in  time, 
was  Horace  Walpole,  youngest  son  of  England's  re- 
markable Prime  Minister,  Sir  Robert  Walpole.  With 
the  former  life  was  sevious  always,  and  human  improve- 
ment the  perpetual  passion ;  with  the  latter  there  was 


I 


V} 


HORACE   WALPOLE,   1754. 


47 


a  constant  desire  for  amusement,  and  the  world  was 
little  moie  than  a  curious  gimcrack. 

Horace  Walpole  was  born  5th  October,  1717,  and 
died  2d  Marcli,  1797,  being  at  his  death  Earl  of  Or- 
ford.  According  to  his  birth  he  was  a  niiin  of  fashion ; 
for  a  time  a  member  of  Parliament ;  a  man  of  letters 
always.  To  his  various  talents  he  added  an  ajrjire- 
gation  of  miscellaneous  tastes,  of  whicli  his  liouse  at 
Strawberry  Hill  was  an  illustration,  —  being  an  elegant 
"  Old  Curiosity  Shop,"  with  pictures,  books,  manuscripts, 
prints,  armor,  china,  historic  relics,  and  art  in  all  its 
forms,  whicli  he  had  collected  at  no  small  outhiy  of  time 
and  money.  Though  aristocratic  in  life,  he  boasted 
that  his  principles  were  not  moiirchical.  On  the 
two  sides  of  his  bed  were  hung  engravings  of  Magna 
Charta  and  of  the  Sentence  of  Cliarles  I.,  the  latter 
with  the  inscription  Major  Charta.  Sleeping  between 
two  such  memorials,  lie  might  be  suspected  of  sym})athy 
witli  America,  although  the  aristocrat  was  never  absent. 
His  Memoirs,  Journals,  Anecdotes  of  Painters  in  Eng- 
land, and  other  works,  are  less  famous  than  his  multi- 
ftxrious  correspondence,  which  is  the  best  in  English 
literature,  and,  according  to  French  judgment,  nearer 
than  any  other  of  our  language  to  that  of  Madame  de 
Suvigne,  whom  he  never  wearied  in  praising.  It  is 
free,  easy,  gossipy,  historic,  and  spicy. 

But  I  deal  with  him  now  only  as  a  prophet.  And 
I  begin  with  his  "]\femoirs  of  the  last  Ten  Years  of 
the  Eeign  of  George  II.,"  where  we  find  the  record 
that  the  Colonists  were  seeking  independence.  This 
occurs  in  his  description  of  the  Duke  of  NeM'castle  as 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  during  the  long 
Walpole    administration.      Illustrating    what   he    calls 


•^^^ 


48 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCEKNING   AMERICA. 


ivj 


I 


;■:! 


the  Duke's  "  mercurial  inattention,"  he  says :  "  It  would 
not  be  credited  what  reams  of  papers,  representations, 
memorials,  petitions  irom  that  tpiarter  of  the  world 
[the  Colonies],  lay  mouldering  and  unopened  in  his 
oiHce";  and  tlien,  showing  his  ignorance,  he  narrates 
liow,  when  it  was  hinted  that  tliere  should  be  some 
defence  for  Annapolis,  he  replied  with  evasive,  lisping 
liurry :  "  Annapolis,  Annapolis  !  0  yes,  Annapolis  must 
be  defended,  —  to  be  sure,  Annapolis  siiould  be  defend- 
ed ;  —  wliere  is  Annapolis  ?  "  ]3ut  this  negligence  did 
not  prevent  him  from  exalting  the  prerogative  of  the 
crown ;  and  here  the  author  says :  — 

"  The  instructions  to  Sir  Danvers  Osborn,  a  new  governor 
of  New  York,  seemed  better  calculated  for  the  latitude  of 
Mexico  and  for  a  Spanish  tribunal  than  for  a  free,  rich 
British  settlement,  and  in  such  opidencc  and  of  such  haugh- 
tiness, that  suspicions  had  long  been  conceived  of  their  medi- 
tating to  throw  off  their  dependence  on  their  mother  country!^ 

This  stands  in  the  Memoirs  under  date  of  March, 
1754,  wliere  the  editor  in  a  note  remarks,  "  If,  as  the 
author  assei'ts,  this  was  written  at  the  time,  it  is  a  very 
remarkable  passage."^  By  the  will  of  the  author  the 
book  was  "  to  be  kept  imopened  and  unsealed  "  until  a 
certain  person  named  should  attain  the  age  of  twenty- 
five  years.  It  was  published  in  1822.  Perhaps  the 
honesty  of  thi:i  entry  will  be  better  appreciated  when 
it  is  noted  that,  only  a  few  pages  later,^  "Washing- 
ton, whom  the  author  afterwards  admired,  is  spoken 
of  as  "  this  brave  braggart,"  who  "  learned  to  blush  for 
his  rhodomontade." 


1  Vol.  I.  p.  344. 

2  Page  347.     See  also  Letter  to  Horace  Mann,  6th  October,  1754. 
by  Cunninghiim,  Vol.  II.  p.  398. 


Letters 


y 


HORACE  WALPOLE,    1774. 


49 


As  the  difficulties  with  the  Colonies  increased,  he 
became  more  sympathetic  and  prophetic.  In  a  letter 
to  Horace  Mann,  24th  February,  1774,  he  wrote:  — 

"  We  have  no  news,  pubHc  or  private ;  but  there  is  an 
ostrich-egg  laid  in  America,  where  tlie  Bostonians  have 
canted   three   hundred   chests  of  tea  into  the  ocean  ;  for 

they  will  not  drink  tea  with  our  Parliament Lord 

Chatham  talked  of  conquering  America  in  (jermany.  1 
believe  England  ivill  he  conquered  some  day  in  New  England 
or  BengaW 

In  May,  1774,  his  sympathies  again  appear:  — 

"Nothing  was  more  shocking  than  the  king's  laughing 
and  saying  at  his  lovee  thai  he  had  as  lief  fight  the  Bos- 
tonians as  the  French.  It  was  only  to  be  paralleled  by 
James  II.  sporting  on  Jeffries's  campaign  in  the  West."^ 

And,  under  date  of  28th  May,  1775,  we  have  his 
record  of  the  encounter,  at  Lexington,  with  the  reflec- 
tion :  — 

"Thus  was  the  civil  war  begun  and  a  victory,  the  first 
fruits  of  it  on  the  side  of  tlio  Americans,  whom  Lord  Sand- 
wich had  had  th^  folly  and  rashness  to  proclaim  cowards."  ^ 

His  letters  to  the  Countess  of  Ossory,  written  during 
the  war,  show  his  irrepressible  sentiments.  Thus  under 
date  of  9th  November,  1775  :  — 

"  I  think  this  country  undone  almost  beyond  redemption. 
Victory  in  any  war  but  a  civil  one  fascinates  mankind  with 
a  vision  of  glory.  What  should  we  gain  by  triumph  itself? 
Would  America  laid  Avaste,  deluged  with  blood,  plundered, 

1  Journal  of  the  Reipn  of  King  George  III.  from  1771  to  1783,  edited 
by  Dornn,  Vol.  I.  p.  -366. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  491. 

8  D 


50 


rUOPIIETIC   VOICES   COiNCEIlNING   AMERICA. 


enslaved,  replace  America  floiirishiii<,',  rich,  and  free?  Do 
we  want  to  reign  over  it,  as  the  Spaniards  over  Peru,  de- 
populated] Are  desolate  regions  preferable  to  commercial 
cities  ] "  » 

Then  under  date  of  6th  July,  1777  :  — 

"My  humble  opinion  is,  that  we  shall  never  recover 
America  and  that  France  will  take  care  that  we  shall  never 
recover  ourselves."  '^ 

"Friday  night  late,"  5tli  December,  1777,  he  breaks 
forth  :  — 

"  Send  for  Lord  Chatham !  they  had  better  send  for 
General  Washington,  madam,  —  or  at  least  for  our  troops 

back No,  madam,  we  do  not  want  ministers  that 

would  protract  our  difficulties.  I  look  on  them  but  jis 
beginning  now,  and  am  far  from  thinking  that  there  is  any 
man  or  set  of  men  able  enongh  to  extricate  us.  /  otvii  there 
are  very  ahle  Enrflishmen  left,  but  they  happen  to  he  on  Mother 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  If  his  Majesty  hopes  to  find  them  here, 
I  doubt  he  will  be  mistaken."  * 

"Thursday  niglit,"  lltli  December,  1777,  his  feelings 
overflow  in  no  common  language  :  — 

"  "Was  ever  proud  insolent  nation  sunk  so  low  ?  Burke 
and  Charles  Fox  told  him  [Lord  North]  the  Administration 
thought  of  nothing  but  keeping  their  places  ;  and  so  they 
will,  and  the  members  their  pensions,  and  the  nation  its 
infamy.  Were  I  Franklin,  I  would  order  the  Cabinet 
Council  to  come  to  me  at  Paris  with  ropes  about  their 
necks,  and  then  kick  them  back  to  St.  James's. 

1  Vol.  T.  p  200:  Letter  LXXIV. 

2  Tbid,  p.  278:  Letter  CVI. 

8  Ibid.,  pp.  315,  316:  Letter  CXX. 


JOHN   ADAMS,   1755. 


51 


"  Well,  madam,  as  I  told  Lord  Ossory  t'other  day,  I 
am  satisfied.  Old  England  is  safe,  that  is,  America,  whither 
the  true  English  retired  under   Charles  I.      This    is    Nova 

Scotia,  and  I  care  not  what  becomes  of  it Adieu, 

madam  !  I  am  at  last  not  sorry  you  havo  no  son,  and  your 
daughters,  I  hope,  will  bo  married  to  Americans,  and  not  in 
this  dirty,  despicable  island."  ^ 

All  this  is  elevated  by  his  letter  of  17th  February, 
1779,  where  he  says:  — 

"  Liberty  has  still  a  continent  to  exist  in.  I  do  not  caro 
a  straw  who  is  minister  in  this  abandoned  country.  It 
is  the  good  old  cause  of  freedom  that  I  havo  at  heart."  ^ 

Thus  with  constancy,  where  original  principle  was 
doubtless  quickened  by  party  animosity,  did  Horace 
Walpole  maintain  the  American  cause  and  predict  a 
new  home  for  Liberty. 


JOHN  ADAMS,  1755,  17G5,  1776,  1780,  1783,  1785,  1813. 

Next  in  time  among  the  prophets  was  John  Adams, 
who  has  left  on  record  at  different  dates  predictions 
showing  a  second-sight  of  no  common  order.  Of  his 
life  I  need  say  nothing,  except  that  he  was  born  lOtli 
October,  1735,  and  died  4th  July,  1826.  I  mention  the 
predictions  in  the  order  of  utterance. 

1.  While  teaching  a  school  at  Worcester,  and  when 
under  twenty  years  of  age,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  one  of 
his  youthful  companions,  bearing  date  12th  October, 
1755,  which  is  a  marvel  of  foresight.  Fifty-two  years 
afterwards,  when  already  much  of  its  prophecy  had  been 

1  Vol.  I.  pp.  318,  319:  Letter  CXXI. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  337:  Letter  CXXIX. 


52 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


i 


l 

I  i 


lit' 


1  I 


fulfilled,  the  original  was  returned  to  its  author  by  the 
son  of  liis  early  comrade  and  correspondent,  Nathan 
Webb,  wlio  was  at  the  time  dead.  After  remarking 
gravely  on  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations,  with  illustrations 
from  Carthage  and  Home,  he  proceeds  :  — 

"  England  began  to  increase  in  power  and  magnificence, 
and  is  now  the  greatest  nation  of  the  globe.  Soon  after  the 
Reformation,  a  few  people  came  over  into  this  New  World 
for  conscience'  sake.  Perhaps  this  apparently  trivial  inci- 
dent may  transfer  the  ffreat  seat  of  empire  to  America.  It 
looks  likely  to  me ;  for  if  we  can  remove  the  turbulent  Gal- 
lics, our  people,  according  to  the  exactest  computations, 
will,  in  another  century,  become  more  numerous  than  Eng- 
land itself.  Should  this  he  the  case,  since  we  have,  I  may 
say,  all  the  naval  stores  of  the  nations  in  our  hands,  it  will 
be  easy  to  obtain  the  mastery  of  the  seas  ;  and  then  the 
united  force  of  all  Europe  will  not  be  able  to  subdue  us. 
The  only  way  to  keep  us  from  setting  up  for  ourselves  is  to 
disunite  us.  Divide  et  impera.  Keep  us  in  distinct  colo- 
nies, and  then,  some  great  men  in  each  colony  desiring  the 
monarchy  of  the  whole,  they  will  destroy  each  other's  influ- 
ence, and  keep  the  country  in  equilibrioy  ^ 

On  this  his  son,  John  Quincy  Adams,  famous  for  im- 
portant service  and  high  office,  remarks  :  — 

"  Had  the  political  part  of  it  been  written  by  the  minister 
of  state  of  a  European  monarchy,  at  the  close  of  a  long  life 
spent  in  the  government  of  nations,  it  would  have  been  pro- 
nounced worthy  of  the  united  wisdom  of  a  Burleigh,  a  Sully, 

or  an  Oxenstiern In  one  hold  outline  he  has  exhibited 

by  anticipation  a  long  succession  of  prophetic  history^  the 
fulfilment   of  ivhich   is   barely   yet   in  progress,   responding 

1  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  23.    See  also  Vol.  IX.  pp.  591,  592. 


[._ 


JOHN   ADAMS,    1756. 


53 


exactly  hitherto  to  his  foresight,  but  the  full  acconii)li8hmcnt 
of  which  is  reserved  for  the  development  of  after  ages.  The 
extinction  of  the  power  of  France  in  America,  the  union  of 
the  British  North  American  Colonies,  the  achievement  of 
their  independence,  and  the  establishment  of  their  ascen- 
dency in  the  community  of  civilized  nations  by  the  means  of 
their  naval  power,  are  all  foreshadowed  in  this  letter,  with  a 
clearness  of  perception  and  a  distinctness  of  delineation 
which  time  has  done  little  more  than  to  convert  into  his- 
torical fact."  ^ 

2.  Another  beautiful  instance  followed  ten  years 
later.  In  the  beginning  of  1765,  Jeremy  CJridley,  the 
eminent  lawyer  of  colonial  days,  formed  a  law  club  or 
sodality  at  Boston,  for  the  mutual  improvement  of  its 
members.  Here  John  Adams  produced  the  original 
sketch  of  his  "  Dissertation  on  the  Canon  and  Feudal 
Law,"  which  appeared  in  the  "  Boston  Gazette "  of 
August,  1768,  was  reprinted  in  London  about  1782,  and 
in  Philadelphia  in  1783.^    The  sketch  began  :  — 

"  This  sodality  has  given  rise  to  the  following  speculation 
of  my  own,  which  I  commit  to  writing  as  hints  for  future 
inquiries  rather  than  as  a  satisfactory  theory."  ^ 

In  this  dissertation,  the  writer  dwells  especially  upon 
the*  settlers  of  British  America,  of  whom  he  says :  — 

"  After  their  arrival  here,  they  began  their  settlement 
and  formed  their  plan  both  of  ecclesiastical  and  civil  gov- 
ernments in  direct  opposition  to  the  canon  and  federal 
systems."* 

This  excellent  statement  was  followed  in  the  original 


1  Works,  Vol.  I.  pp.  24,  25. 

2  Ibid.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  447. 


8  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.  pp.  65,  66. 
<  Ibid.,  Vol  III.  p  451. 


■^r 


mm 


54 


rKOPHKTIC  VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERIC/V. 


I 


sketch,  comrnnnicatod  to  tliu  sodality,  by  tliis  passage, 
which  does  not  api)ear  in  the  printed  dissertation :  — 

'•  I  ulwiiys  consider  the  settloment  of  America  with 
reverence,  us  the  opening  of  a  grand  aceno  and  design  in 
Providence  for  tlie  ilhnnination  of  tlio  ignorant  and  the 
emancipation  of  tiie  slavish  part  of  mankind  all  over  the 
earth." ^ 

On  these  ])rophetic  words,  his  son,  John  Quincy 
Adams,  remarks :  — 

"  This  sentence  was  perhaps  omitted  from  an  impression 
that  it  mif^fht  he  thought  to  savor  not  merely  of  enthusiasm 
but  of  extravagance.  Who  would  now  deny  that  this  mag- 
nificent anticipation  had  been  already  to  a  great  degree 
realized'?  Who  does  not  now  see  that  the  accomplishment 
of  this  great  object  is  already  placed  beyond  all  possibility 
offadurer'2 

His  grandson,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  alluding  to 
the  changes  which  took  place  in  the  original  sketch, 

says :  — 

"  As  not  infrequently  happens,  however,  in  this  process, 
one  stray  passage  was  lost  by  it,  which  at  this  time  must 
be  regarded  as  the  most  deserving  of  any  to  bo  remem- 
bered." " 

Thus  again,  at  an  early  day,  did  this  prophet  discern 
tlie  future.  How  true  it  is  that  the  mission  of  this  Re- 
public is  "  the  illumination  of  the  ignorant,"  and  still 
further  "  the  emancipation  of  the  slavish  part  of  man- 
kind all  over  the  earth."  Universal  enlightenment  and 
universal  emancipation  !  And  the  first  great  stage  was 
National  Independence. 


1  Works,  Vol.  1.  p.  66;  Vol.  III.  p.  452. 

2  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.  p.  66. 


8.  Ibid.,  Vol.  III.  p.  448. 


I  \- 


JOHN   ADAMS,    177G. 


55 


3.  The  DGcliiiatum  of  Iiidependcnoo  bears  date  4tli 
July,  1770,  lor  on  tliut  day  it  was  sii^^iied  ;  but  tlio  voto 
wliich  deteruiini'd  it  was  on  thu  2d  July.  On  the  3d 
July,  John  Aihuns,  in  a  letter  to  his  wile,  wrote  :  — 

*'  Yostcrdiiy  the  greatest  (luestion  was  decided  wliich  ever 
was  debated  in  America,  and  a  greater,  perhaits,  never  was 

nor  will  be  decided  among  men 1  um  surprised  ait 

the  su(hlenness  as  well  as  greatness  of  this  revolution. 
Britain  has  been  tilled  with  fullv,  and  America  with  wis- 
(lorn.  At  least  this  is  my  judgment.  Time  must  deter- 
mine.    It  is  the  ivill  of  Ilaiveii  that  the  two  couiifrics  shouhl 

be  sundered  forever 'i'ho   day   is   past.      The   second 

day  of  July,  177G,  will  be  the  most  memorable  cpocha  in 
the  history  of  America.  /  am  apt  to  helieve  that  it  will  he. 
celebrated  bjf  sncceediuf/  f/enerations  as  the  r/reat  anniversar;/ 
festival.  It  ought  to  be  commemorated,  as  the  day  of 
deliverance,  by  solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  (Jod  Almighty. 
It  ought  to  be  solemnized  with  pomp  and  parade,  with 
shows,  games,  sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires,  and  illiujjinations, 
from  one  end  of  this  continent  to  the  other,  from  this  time 
forward,  forevermore.  You  will  think  me  transj)ortcd  with 
enthusiasm,  but  I  am  not.  I  am  well  aware  of  the  toil  and 
blood  and  treasure  that  it  will  cost  us  to  maintain  this 
Declaration,  and  support  and  defend  these  States.  Yet, 
through  all  the  (jlonm,  I  can  see  the  raij  of  ravishiiiff  litjht  and 
(flitry ;  and  that  posterity  will  triumph  in  that  days  transac- 
tion, even  although  we  should  rue  it,  which  I  trust  in  Cod 
we  shall  not."  ^ 

Here  is  a  coni])rehensive  prophecy,  first,  that  the  two 
countries  would  be  separated  forever  ;  secondly,  that 
the  anniversary  of  Independence  would  be  celebrated 
as  a  great  annual  festival ;  and,  thirdly,  that  posterity 
would  triumph  in  this  transaction,  where,  through  all 

1  Works,  Vol.  I.  pp.  230,  232. 


mm 


I      ' 


uii. 


56 


PUOniETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


the  j](looiii,  shono  rays  of  mviHliin«j  li^^ht  iitul  glory,  —  all 
ol"  which  has  huen  lultillecl  to  thu  lottor.  Keceiit  events 
give  to  the  Deelamtioii  iidditiomil  iiuportuiice.  Fqr  a 
long  time  its  great  pronii.ses  that  all  men  are  e([ual,  and 
that  liglitl'ul  government  stands  only  on  the  consent  of 
the  governed,  were  disowned  hy  our  country.  Now  that 
at  last  they  are  beginning  to  prevail,  there  is  increascid 
reason  to  celebrate  the  day  on  wliich  the  mighty  J)ec- 
laration  was  made,  and  new  occasion  for  triumpii  in  the 
rays  of  ravishing  light  and  glory. 

4.  Here  is  another  prophetic  passage  in  a  letter  dated 
at  Paris,  13th  July,  1780,  and  addressed  to  tiie  Count 
de  Vergennes  of  France,  pleading  the  cause  of  the  colo- 
nists :  — 

"  The  United  States  of  America  are  a  great  and  powerful 
people,  whatever  European  statesmen  may  think  of  them. 
If  we  take  into  our  estimate  the  numbers  and  the  character 
of  her  people,  the  extent,  variety,  and  fertility  of  her  soil, 
her  conunercc,  and  her  skill  and  materials  for  shipbuilding, 
and  her  seamen,  excepting  France,  Spain,  England,  Cer- 
many,  and  Russia,  there  is  not  a  state  in  Europe  so  power- 
ful. Breaking  off  such  a  nation  as  this  from  the  English 
so  suddenly,  and  uniting  it  so  closely  with  Franco,  is  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  events  that  ever  happened  among 
mankind."  * 

• 

Perhaps  this  may  be  considered  statement  rather 
than  prophecy  ;  but  it  illustrates  the  prophetic  character 
of  the  writer. 

5.  While  at  Amsterdam,  in  1780,  Mr.  Adaihs  met  a 
gentleman  whom  he  calls  "  the  giant  of  the  law,"  Mr. 
Calkoen.  After  an  unsatisfactory  attempt  at  conversa- 
tion, where  neither  spoke  the  language  of  the  other,  it 

1  Works.  Vol.  VII.  p.  527. 


JOHN  ADAMS,   1780. 


57 


was  arranged  that  the  hitter  shouhl  propouiul  a  scries 
of  questions  in  writing,  which  tiie  American  minister 
undertook  to  answer.  The  (piestions  were  in  Dutch, 
the  answers  in  English.  Among  the  (questions  was 
this:  "  Wiiether  America  in  and  of  itself,  hy  means  of 
purchasing  or  exchanging  the  productions  of  the  sev- 
eral provinces,  wouhl  he  able  to  continue  the  war  for 
six,  eight,  or  ten  years,  even  if  they  were  entirely  de- 
prived of  the  trade  with  Europe,  or  their  allies,  ex- 
hausted by  the  war  and  forced  to  make  a  separate 
peace,  were  to  leave  them  i "  To  this  question  our 
prophet  reiilied  :  — 

"  This  is  an  extreme  case ^Vhy,  then,  should  wo 

put  cases  that  we  know  can  never  h!i[)pen'?  However,  I  can 
inform  you  that  the  case  was  often  i)Ut  before  the  war  broke 
out ;  and  I  have  heard  the  common  farmcrH  in  America 
reasoning  upon  these  cases  seven  years  ago.  I  have  h(?ard 
them  say,  if  (Jreat  Britain  could  build  a  wall  of  brass  a 
thousand  feet  high  all  aloug  the  sea-coast,  at  low-water 
mark,  we  can  live  and  be  happy.  America  is  most  undoubt- 
ed! >/  capable  of  being  the  most  independent  country  upon  earth. 
It  produces  everything  for  the  necessit}',  comfort,  and  con- 
venience of  life,  and  many  of  the  luxuries  too.  So  that  if 
there  were  an  eternal  separation  between  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, the  inhabitants  of  America  would  not  oidy  live  but 
multiply,  and,  for  what  I  know,  bo  wiser,  better,  and  hap- 
pier than  they  will  be  as  it  is."  ^ 

Here  is  an  assertion  of  conditions  essential  to  inde- 
pendence over  "the  most  independent  country  upon 
earth,"  with  a  promise  that  "the  inhabitants  will 
multiply." 

1  Works,  Vol.  VII.  p.  275.  Twenty-«ix  Letters  upon  Interesting  Stib- 
jects  respecting  the  Revolution  of  America,  written  in  Holland  in  the  year 
MDCCLXX. 

3» 


WH»»"11W 


i  1 


58 


rUOrilETIC  VOICES  conceuning  amekica. 


0.  Ill  an  ollicliil  luttor  to  tliu  Presiduiit  of  ('ongross, 
dated  at  Aiiistcrdaui,  5tli  Sept(Miil)(3r,  17S0,  tliu  samo 
wriLcr,  wliihi  j)r()[)o.siii<,'  an  Ainurioan  Academy  lor  rolin- 
injif,  iinpi'ovin^j:,  and  ascciLainin;^'  tlic  Knylisli  language, 
l)icdi('t.s  tlio  extension  of  tliU  language:  — 

"  /i//////.v//  in  (frndurd  to  be  in  tka  lU'xt  and  nucceediiif/  cvntu- 
rien  more  (/('ueralfi/  the  laH</na<je  of  the  world  than  Latin  was 
in  the  lad  or  French  is  in  the  present  (Hje,  Tho  rcuisou  of 
this  is  obvious,  —  bocuutso  the  increasing  j)()])uluti()n  in 
America,  uml  their  nniversal  coimection  anil  conespoudenco 
with  all  nations,  will,  aided  by  tho  intincneo  of  Kiigland  in 
tho  world,  whcthei-  grout  or  small,  force  their  language  into 
general  use,  in  spite  of  all  the  obstacles  thiit  may  bo  thrown 
in  their  way,  if  any  such  there  should  bo."  ^ 

In  another  letter  of  unollieial  character,  dated  at 
Anistordani,  23d  September,  1780,  he  thus  repeats  his 
prophecy :  — 

"You  nmst  know  /  have  undertaken  to  proj)hest/  that 
Knfflish  will  be  the  most  respectable  lanfjuage  in  the  world, 
and  the  most  universalli/  read  and  spohen  in  the  next  century, 
if  not  before  the  close  of  this.  American  population  will  in 
the  next  age  produce  a  greater  number  of  persons  who  will 
speak  English  than  any  other  i.viignago,  and  these  persons 
will  have  more  general  acquaintance  and  conversation  with 
all  other  nations  than  any  other  people."^ 

David  Ilunio  in  a  letter  to  Gibbon,  24th  October, 
17C7,  had  already  written:  — 

"  Our  solid  and  increasing  establishments  in  America, 
where  we  need  less  dread  tho  inundation  of  barbarians, 
promise  a  superior  stabilitf/  and  duration  to  the  English 
language y  ^ 

1  Works,  Vol.  VII.  p.  250.  2  n,;,].,  Vol.  IX.  p.  510. 

8  Gibbon,  Memoirs,  Cliap.  VII.,  Notes  and  Additions. 


uii 


JOHN   ADAMS,    1780. 


59 


Ikit  these  moro  luodciiitu  words  wliicli  did  credit 
to  the  disceniiiiciit  ol"  tlie  philosopher-liistoriuu  were 
tlieii  un])iil)lisiied. 

Tlie  jiropliucy  ul'  .loliii  Adams  is  alrciidy  iicc.om- 
plislied.  Of  uU  tilt)  luiroiH'iiii  laiiLjuai^es,  Kn;,dish  is 
most  (extensively  stxtkeii.  'riu'oii^li  I'ji^^laiid  and  tho 
United  States  it  has  become  the  hin;;na;4e  of  r-ommerce, 
wliieli,  sooner  or  hiter,  must  end)ra('ie  the  ^loI)e.  Tim 
German  j)hih)logist,  (Jrimm,  has  lollowed  our  American 
})rophet  in  sayin;^'  that  it  "seems  eliosen,  like  its  jjcoplts 
to  rule  in  future  times  in  a  still  ^ireater  de^-ree  in  all 
the  corners  of  the  earth."  ' 

Another  lield  was  ojx'ned  by  a  Kur(»i»ean  corresi)ond- 
ent,  John  Luzac,  who  writes  from  Leyden,  under  date  of 
14th  September,  1 THO,  that,  in  ])leadin<,'  the  cause  of 
American  Independence,  he  has  twenty  times  encoun- 
tered, from  sensible  and  educated  peojjle,  an  objection 
which  he  sets  forth  in  French  as  follows:  — 

"Yes,  but  if  America  becomes  free,  she  will  sonic  day 
give  the  law  to  Europe.  She  will  tukc  away  our  islands, 
and  oiH'  colonics  at  (Juiunu ;  she  will  s(Mze  all  the  Antilles ; 
Kho  will  engulf  Mexico,  even  Peru,  ("hill,  and  I»razil ;  she 
will  appropriate  our  freighting  commerce  ;  she  will  pay 
her  benefactors  with  ingratitude."  ^ 

To  this  ]\Ir.  Adams  replied,  in  a  letter  from  Anistcr- 
dam,  15th  September,  1780  :  — 

"  I  have  met  often  in  Europe  with  the  same  species  of 
rcasoncrs  that  you  describe ;  but  I  find  they  arc  not 
numerous.  Among  men  of  reflection  the  sentiment  is 
generally  different,  find  that  no  power  in  Europe  has  any- 
thing  to   fear   from    America.      The  principal    interest   of 

1  Keith  Jolinston,  Plivsical  Atlas,  p.  114. 

2  Works,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  254. 


1 


■TCIM*^*  UUHUl  .1 1, ^Wfl^p^w^ 


vmr  mmiy^v'iHi*  if«^w«'iliu«v^if*CP^|*gFf<'^nv^^«<<^^^ ^ ' 


GO 


PROPHETIC  VOICES  CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


America  for  many  centuries  to  come  will  be  landed,  and 
her  chief  occupation  agriculture.  Manufactures  and  com- 
merce will  be  but  secondary  objects  and  always  subservient 
to  the  other.  America  will  be  the  country  to  produce  raw 
materials  for  manufacture  ;  but  Europe  will  be  the  country 
of  manufactures,  and  the  commerce  of  America  can  never 
increase  but  in  a  certain  proportion  to  the  growth  of  its 
agriculture,  unc.il  its  whole  territory  is  tilled  up  with  in 
habitants,  which  will  not  be  in  some  hundreds  of  years." 

After  enumerating  tar,  iron,  and  timber  as  American 
articles,  he  says  :  — 

"  In  fact,  the  Atlantic  is  so  long  and  difficult  a  navigation, 
that  the  Americans  will  never  be  able  to  afford  to  carry 
to  the  European  market  great  quantities  of  these  articles." 

If  the  prophet  fails  here,  he  is  none  the  less  wise 
in  the  suggestion  with  which  he  closes :  — 

"  If  Europe  cannot  prevent,  or,  rather,  if  any  particular 
nation  of  Europe  cannot  prevent,  the  independence  of 
America,  then  the  sooner  her  independence  is  acknowl- 
edged the  better;  the  less  likely  she  will  be  to  become 
warlike,  enterprising,  and  ambitious.  The  truth  is,  how- 
ever, that  America  can  never  unite  in  anv  war  but  a 
defensive  one."  ^ 

Had  the  prophet  foreseen  the  increasing  facilities 
of  commerce,  the  triumphs  of  steam,  the  floating  masses 
of  transportation,  the  wonders  of  navigation,  quickened 
and  guided  by  the  telegraph,  and  to  these  had  he  added 
the  diversified  industry  of  the  country,  extending,  ex- 
panding, and  prevailing,  his  remarkable  vision,  which 
already  saw  so  much,  would  have  viewed  other  glories 
in  assured  certainty. 

1  Works,  Vol.  VII.  p.  256. 


;i-L 


RMIM 


JOHN   ADAMS,   1787. 


61 


8.  There  is  another  prophecy,  at  once  definite  and 
broad,  from  the  same  eminent  quarter.  In  a  letter  dated 
London,  17th  October,  1785,  and  adcjressed  to  Jolui 
Jay,  at  the  time  Secretary  for  Foreign  AtVairs  under 
tlie  Confederation,  John  Adams  reveals  his  conviction 
of  the  importance  of  France  to  us,  "  while  England 
held  a  province  in  America "  ;  ^  and  tiien,  in  another 
letter,  dated  21st  October,  1785,  reports  the  saying  of 
])eople  about  him,  "  that  Canada  and  Noca  JScotia 
must  soon  be  ours;  there  must  be  war  for  it;  they 
know  how  it  will  end,  but  the  sooner  the  bet!,cr. 
This  done,  we  shall  be  forever  at  peace;  till  then, 
never."  ^  These  intimations  foreshadow  the  prophecy 
found  in  the  Preface  to  his  "  Defence  of  the 
American  Constitutions,"  written  in  London,  while 
Minister  there,  and  dated  Grosvenor  Scpiare,  1st  Janu- 
ary, 1787:  — 

"  The  United  States  of  America  have  exhibited,  perliaps, 
the    first    example    of  govornmetits  erected  on   tliC   simple 

principles    of    nature TiurtoeTi    governments    thus 

founded  on  the  natural  authority  of  the  people  alone, 
without  a  pretence  of  miracle  or  mvsterv,  and  which  are 
desthed  to  fiprcaff  ov/'r  the  northern  part  of  that  whole, 
quarter  of  the  globe,  are  a  great  point  gained  in  favor  of 
the  rights  of  mankind.  Tlie  experiment  is  made,  and  has 
completely  succeeded."^ 

Here  is  foretold  nothing  less  than  that  our  system 
of  government  is  to  embrace  the  whole  continent  of 
North  America. 

9.  This  series  may  be  concluded  by  other  words,  gen- 
eral in  character,  but  deeply  prophetic,  showing  a  con- 


1  Works  Vol.  VIII.  p.  322. 

2  Ibid.  p.  33. 


«  Ibid.,  Vol.  IV.  p.  293. 


62 


niOPIIETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


ii 


! 


stant  sense  of  the  unfolding  grandeur  and  influence  of 
the  Itepublic. 

The  lirst  is  from  the  concluding  chapter  of  the  work 
last  cited,  and  in  harmony  with  the  Preface :  — 

"A  prospect  into  futurity  in  America  is  like  cnntom- 
plating  the  heavens  through  the  telescopes  of  Herschel. 
Objects  stujjendous  in  their  magnitudes  and  motions  strike 
us  from  all  (piarters  and  lill  us  witli  amazement."^ 

Thus,  also,  he  writes  to  Thomas  Jefferson,  November 
15,  1813:  — 

"  Many  hundred  years  must  roll  away  before  we  shall  be 
corrupted.  Our  imre,  virtuous^  public-spirited,  federative  re- 
public ivill  last  forever,  govern  the  globe,  and  introduce  the  per- 
fection of  man.''^ 

Then,  again,  in  a  letter  to  II.  Niles,  I3th  February, 
1818:  — 

"  Tlic  American  Revolution  was  not  a  common  event. 
Its  effects  and  consccpiences  have  already  been  awful  over 
a  great  part  of  the  globe.  And  ivhen  and  where  are  they 
to  cease  ?  "  '^ 

The  prophetic  spirit  which  fdled  the  "  visions "  of 
youth  continued  in  the  "dreams"  of  age.  Esi)ecially 
was  he  constant  in  foreseeing  the  widening  roach  of 
the  great  Revolution  he  had  helped  at  its  begirning; 
and  this  arrested  the  attention  of  his  eloquent  eulogist 
at  Faneuil  Hall.* 

1  Works  Vol.  VT.  p.  218. 

2  Complete  Works  of  Jefferson,  Vol.  VI.  p.  258. 
8  Works,  Vol   X.  p.  282. 

4  Daniel  Webster's  Disconrse  in  commemoration  of  the  Lives  and  Ser- 
vices of  .Tolm  Adams  and  Thomas  .Teffersf^i,  delivered  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
Boston,  August  2,  1826:   Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  139. 


MARQUIS   DE  MONTCALM,    1758. 


63 


MARQUIS  DE   MONTCALM,  1758,  1759. 

Ir  I  enter  the  name  of  the  ^Marquis  cle  Montcalm  on 
this  list,  it  is  because  prophetic  words  have  been  attrib- 
uted to  him,  which  at  diii'ereiit  periods  have  attracted 
no  small  attention.  He  was  born  near  Xismes  in 
France,  1712,  and  died  at  Quebec,  loth  September, 
1759,  beinu"  at  the  time  commander  of  the  Frencli 
forces  in  Canada.  As  a  soldier  he  was  the  peer  of  liis 
opponent,  Wolfe,  who  perished  in  tlie  same  battle,  and 
they  have  since  enjoyed  a  common  fame. 

In  1777,  amidst  the  heats  of  our  lievolutionary  con- 
test, a  publication  was  put  forth  by  Almon,  tlie  pam- 
phleteer, in  French  and  Englisli  on  opposite  pages, 
entitled  "  Letters  from  the  Marcpiis  de  Montcalm,  Gov- 
ernor-General of  Canada  in  the  years  1757,  1758,  and 
1759,"  and  tlie  soldier  reappeared  as  prophet. 

The  first  letter  is  addressed  to  M.  de  Berryer,  First 
Commissioner  of  tlie  Marine  of  France,  and  pur])orts  to 
be  dated  at  Montreal,  4th  April,  1757.  It  contains  the 
copy  of  an  elaborate  communication  from  "  S.  J."  of 
Boston,  proposing  a  scheme  for  undermining  the  power 
of  (h'eat  Britain  in  the  Colonies,  by  free  trade  with 
Franct  through  Canada,  and  predicting  that  "  all  our  col- 
onies in  less  thiiu  ten  years  will  catch  fire."^  In  trans- 
mitting this  letter  Montcalm  did  little  more  than  indorse 
its  se  ttimcnts  ;  but  in  his  second  letter  to  the  same  per- 
son, d  ted  at  Montreal,  1st  October,  1758,  he  says  :  — 

"All  these  informations  which  I  every  day  receive  con- 
firm me  in  my  opinion  that  England  ivill,  one  day  loRe  her 
colonies  on  the  continent  of  America;  and  if  Canada  shoidd 
then  be  in  the  hands  of  an  able  governor  who  understands 

1  PajTc  8. 


rv 


Hi 


e     ! 


I  I 


64 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


his  business,  he  will  have  a  thousand  opportunities  of  hasten- 
ing the  event ;  this  is  the  only  advantage  we  can  reap  of  all 
it  has  cost  us."* 

In  the  third  letter,  addressed  to  M.  Mole,  First  Presi- 
dent of  the  Parlianient  of  J^aris,  and  dated  at  the  camp 
before  Quebec,  2-4th  August,  1759,  on  the  eve  of  the 
fatal  battle  in  which  both  commanders  fell,  Montcalm 
mounts  the  tripod  :  — 

"  They  are  in  a  condition  to  give  us  battle,  which  I  must 

not  refuse,  and  which  1  cannot  hope  to  gain The  event 

must  decide.  But  of  one  thing  be  certain,  that  I  probably 
shall  not  survive  the  loss  of  tlie  colony.'' ....  I  shall  at 
least  console  myself  in  my  defeat  and  on  the  loss  of  the 
colony,  by  the  full  persuasion  that  this  defeat  will  one  day 
serve  my  country  more  than  a  victory,  and  that  the  con- 
queror, in  aggrandizing  himself,  will  find  his  tomb  in  the 
country  he  gains  from  us.^  ....  All  the  English  colo- 
nies would  long  s'uce  have  shaken  off  the  yoke,  each  prov- 
ince would  have  formed  itself  into  a  little  independent 
republic,  if  the  fear  of  seeing  the  French  at  their  door  had 
not  been  a  check  upon  them.^  ....  Canada,  once  taken 
by  the  English,  would  in  a  few  years  suffer  much  more  from 

being  forced  to  be  English They  would  soon  bo  of 

no  use  to  England,  and  perhaps  they  would  oppose  her."" 

At  once  on  their  appearance  these  letters  played  an 
important  part  in  the  "high  life"  of  politics.  The 
"Monthly  Review" ^  called  them  "genuine."  The 
"Gentleman's  Magazine"'^  said  that  "the  sagacity  of 
this  accomydished  general  was  equal  to  his  bravery," 
and  quoted  what  it  characterized  as  a  "  remarkable  pre- 
diction."    In  the  House  of  Lords,  30th  May,  1777,  dur- 

1  Page  18.        8  Pnpe  22.        6  Pnjro  27.  '  Julj-,  1777,  p.  342. 

2  Page  21.        ■*  Page  24.        «  April,  1777,  p.  306. 


MARQUIS   DE   MONTCALM,   1751). 


DO 


ing  a  debate  begun  by  Lord  Chatham,  and  flashing  with 
great  names,  Lord  Slielburne  said  that  "  they  had  been 
discovered  to  be  a  forgery";^  but  Lord  MansHeld,  tlie 
illustrious  Chief  Justice,  relied  upon  the  letters,  "  which 
he  insisted  were  not  spurious."'^  In  another  important 
debate  in  the  House  of  Lords,  5th  March,  1778,  Earl 
Temple,  after  quoting  Montcalm,  "  observed  that  tlie  au- 
thenticity of  these  letters  had  been  often  disputed ;  but 
he  could  afhrm  that  he  saw  them  in  manuscript  among 
the  papers  of  a  miiiister  now^  deceased,  long  before  they 
made  their  appearance  in  print,  and  at  a  time  when 
American  independence  was  in  the  contemi)lation  of  a 
very  few  persons  indeed."^  Such  was  the  contempo- 
rary testimony  ;  but  the  pamphlet  shared  the  fate  of  the 
numerous  brood  engendered  bv  the  war. 

Oblivion  seemed  to  have  settled  on  these  letters, 
when  their  republication  at  (Gibraltar,  as  late  as  1858, 
by  an  aiithor  wlio  treatec"  them  as  genuine,^  attracted 
the  attention  of  Thomas  Carlyle,  who  proceeded  to 
make  them  famous  again,  by  introducing  them  as  an 
e])isode  in  his  Life  of  Frederick,  sometimes  called  the 
Great.  IVIontcalm  appears  once  more  as  prophet,  and 
the  readers  of  the  career  of  the  Trussian  monarch  turn 
with  wonder  to  the  inspired  Frenchman,  with  "his 
power  of  faithful  observation,  his  sagacity  and  talent  of 
prophecy  so  considerable."  ^  Then,  quoting  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  last  letter,  the  great  author  exclaims 
at  different  points  :  "  Trediction  first "  ;  "  This  is  a  curi- 

^  Pnrliampntary  History,  Vol.  IX.  p.  346. 

2  Thid.,  p.  351.' 

8  Tbifl..  p.  847. 

*  Tho  riiiiri'*  of  Abraham,  Notes  original  and  selected,  by  Lientenant- 

Colonel  Beathon. 
5  History  of  Frederick  H.  of  Prussia,  Vol.  V.  p.  557  (London,  18G5). 


rpr 


is  ?} 


I 


i 


66 


niOPIIETIC   VOICES    CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


ously  exact  prodiction";  "Prediction  second,  wliicli  is 
still  more  curious."^ 

If  the  letter  quoted  Ity  Carlylo  were  genuine,  as  lie 
accepted  it  (also  as  was  evidently  accepted  by  Lord 
John  ItusselP),  and  as  the  family  of  Montcalm  seem  to 
Lelieve,  it  would  indicate  for  the  soldier  all  that  was 
claimed  by  liis  descendant  wlien,  after  sjieaking  of  his 
"political  foresiglit,"  he  added  that  it  "was  proved  by  one 
of  his  letters,  in  which  he  made  a  remarkable  propliecy 
concerninijf  tlie  American  Itcvolution."  ^  Certainly,  — 
if  the  letter  is  not  an  invention  ;  but  such  is  the  present 
impression.  On  the  title-page  of  the  original  pamphlet, 
in  the  Library  of  Harvard  L^niversity,  Sparks,  whose 
judgment  is  of  great  weight,  has  written :  "  These  let- 
ters are  unquestionably  spurious."  Otliers  unite  with 
him.  It  is  impossible  to  read  the  paper  in  the  "  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,"  al- 
ready quoted,  and  the  pungent  note  of  George  Stevens, 
in  liis  catalogue  entitled  Bihliothcca  Historica,  under 
the  title  of  the  much  debated  pamphlet,  without  feel- 
ing that  wliatever  may  have  been  the  merits  of  Mont- 
calm as  a  soldier,  his  title  as  a  prophet  cannot  be  ac- 
cepted. His  name  is  introduced  liere  that  I  may  not 
omit  an  instance  which  has  attracted  attention  in  more 
than  one  generation. 

THE   DUKE  DE  CHOISEUL,    1767,    1768. 

Another  Frenchman  in  this  far-sighted  list  was 
the  Count  de  Stainville,  afterwards  Duke  de  Choiseul, 

^  History  of  Froderick  H.  of  Prussia,  Vol.  V.  p.  558. 

2  House  of  Commons,  8th  February,  1850.     Hanford,  Parliamentary  De- 
bates, Third  Series,  Vol.  CVIH.  p.  537. 

3  Remarks  of  Mr.  Purkman.     Proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society,  1869-70,  p.  113. 


TITK   DUKE   DE   CIIOISKIJL,    17G7. 


67 


born  28tli  June,  1710,  and  died  May,  1785.  His 
brilliant  career  as  diplomatist  and  statesman  was  pre- 
ceded by  a  career  of  arms  witii  ra])id  promotion,  so 
that  at  the  age  of  forty  he  became  lieutenant-general. 
Meanwhile  he  was  ambassador  at  Kome  and  then  at 
Vienna,  being  the  two  pinnacles  of  diplomatic  life. 
In  1758  he  became  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  also 
duke  and  peer;  then  Minister  of  War;  but  in  17G6 
he  resumed  the  Foreign  Office,  wliich  he  held  till  1770, 
when  he  was  disgraced.  The  king  could  not  pardon 
the  contempt  with  which,  although  happy  in  the  smiles 
of  Madame  de  Pompadour,  the  Prime  Minister  rejected 
the  advances  of  her  successor,  the  ignoble  I)u  Parry ; 
and  he  was  exiled  from  court  to  live  in  his  chateau 
on  the  Loire,  where,  dispensing  a  magnificent  hospi- 
tality, he  was  consoled  by  a  loving  wife  and  devoted 
friends. 

lie  had  charm  of  manner  rather  than  person,  with 
a  genius  for  statesmanship  recognized  and  commemo- 
rated in  contemporary  writings.  Madame  du  Deffant 
speaks  of  him  often  in  her  correspondence,  and  depicts 
him  in  her  circle  when  Franklin  was  first  presented 
there.     Horace  Walpole  returns  to  him  in  letters  and 


in    his    memoirs,    attributing   to    him 


"  great 


parts,' 


calling  him  "daring  and  dasliing,  whose  good-nature 
would  not  have  checked  his  ambition  from  doing  any 
splendid  mischief."  The  Abbe  Barthelemy,  in  his 
"Travels  of  Anacharsis,"  portrays  him  under  the 
character  of  Arsane.  Frederick  of  Prussia,  so  often 
called  the  Great,  hailed  him  "coachman  of  Furope." 
And  our  own  historian  Bancroft  does  not  hesitate  to 


1  Letter  to  Countess  of  Ossory,  8th  November,  1789.     Letters  by  Cunning- 
ham, Vol.  L  p.  234. 


i! 


68 


PROPIIKTIC  VOICES   CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


call  him  "the  greatest  minister  of  Franco  since  rviclio- 
lieu." 

The  two  volumes  of  memoirs  purporting  to  be  written 
by  liimself  and  printed  under  his  eyes  in  his  cabinet 
in  1778,  were  accidental  pieces,  written,  but  never  col- 
lected by  him,  nor  intended  as  memoirs.^  In  tlie 
French  treasure-house  of  these  productions  tliey  are 
of  little  vtdue,  if  not  unworthy  of  his  fame. 

JJesides  a  brUliant  and  famous  administration  of 
affairs,  are  several  acts  not  to  be  forgotten.  At  liome 
his  skill  was  shown  in  bringing  Benedict  XIV.  to  a  com- 
mon understanding  on  the  bull  Unigcnitus.  Througli 
him  in  1704  tlie  Jesuits  v/ere  sui)pressed  in  France, 
or  were  permitted  only  on  condition  of  mingling  witli 
the  secular  clergy.  But  nothing  in  his  career  was  more 
memorable  than  his  foresight  and  courage  with  regard 
to  the  English  colonies.  American  Independence  was 
foreseen  and  heli)ed  by  him. 

The  memoirs  of  Choiseul  have  little  of  the  elevation 
recognized  in  his  statesmansliip,  nor  are  they  anywliere 
proplietic.  Elsewhere  his  better  genius  was  manifest, 
especially  in  his  diplomacy.  This  was  recognized  by 
Talleyrand,  who,  in  a  paper  on  the  advantages  of  new 
colonies,  read  before  the  Institute  towards  the  close 
of  the  last  century,  cliaracterized  him  as  "  one  of  tlie 
men  of  our  age  who  had  the  most  of  foresight  in  his 
intelligence,  who  already  in  1769  /(wcsaio  the  scjoaration 
of  America  from  England,  and  dreaded  the  ])artition 
of  Poland " ;  ^  and  he  adds  that  "  from   this  epoch  he 

^  M(5moires  de  M.  le  Due  de  Choiseul  Merits  par  lui-memo  et  imprinitfs 
sous  ses  yeux  dans  son  cabinet  a  Chanteloup  en  1778.  2  livres,  Chanteloup 
et  Paris,  17yO. 

2  Essai  sur  les  avantapes  a  rctirer  des  colonies  dans  les  circonstances 
prdsentcs,  par  le  citoyen  Talleyrand,  lu  h  I'lnstitut  National,  25  Messidor, 


THE   DUKE  DE   ClIOISEUL,    1708. 


69 


sought  by  negfttiiitioTis  to  propiire  the  cession  of  Kgypt 
to  France,  that  on  the  day  tlie  American  colonies 
slioukl  escape,  lie  niight  he  ready  with  ii  substitute  in 
the  same  })roduction3  and  a  more  extended  commerce." 

Ijancroft,  whose  work  shows  unprecedented  access 
to  original  documents,  recognizes  the  prevision  of  the 
French  minister  at  an  earlier  date,  as  attested  by  the 
archives  of  the  French  Fo/rir/n  Office.  In  1704  ho 
received  the  report  of  a  sjiecial  agent  who  had  visited 
America.  In  1707  he  sent  IJaron  de  Kalb,  afterwards 
an  odicer  in  our  Revolution,  —  sparing  no  means  to 
obtain  information,  and  drawing  even  from  New  Eng- 
land sermons,  of  which  curious  extracts  are  ])re.served 
among  the  State  Papers  of  France.  In  August  of  this 
year,  writing  to  his  pleni[)otentiary  at  London,  the 
Minister  say«!  "•"th  regard  to  England  and  her  colonies : 
*'  Let  her  but  attemi)t  to  establish  taxes  in  them,  and 
those  countries,  greater  than  England  in  extent  and 
perhaps  becoming  more  populous,  having  fisheries,  for- 
ests, shipping,  corn,  iron,  and  the  like,  will  easily  and 
fearlessly  separate  themselves  i'rom  the  mother  coun- 
try." ^  In  the  next  year  I)u  Chatelet,  son  of  her  who 
was  the  companion  of  Voltaire  and  the  French  trans- 
lator of  Newton,  becomes  his  most  sympathetic  repre- 
sentative. To  him  the  Minister  wrote  loth  July,  1768: 
"  xiccording  to  the  prognostications  of  sensible  men,  who 
have  had  an  opportunity  to  study  the  character  of  the 
Americans  and  to  measure  their  progress  from  day  to 
day  in  the  spirit  of  indei>endence,  this  separation  of 
the  American  Colonies  from  the  metropolis  sooner  or 


an  V.     See  Historical  Cliaracters  by  Sir  Henry  Lytton  Bulwer,  Vol.  I.  p.  461, 
Appendix 
1  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VI.  pp.  95,  96. 


70 


PKOPIIKTIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


Ill 
III 


i 


lator  iiiusl  come.*  ....  I  see  hU  tlieso  diirunillies, 
and  do  not  di.sscniblo  tlioir  uxtunt ;  but  I  see  also  the 
controUini,'  interest  of  tliu  Americans  to  profit  by  thcs 
ofjportunity  of  a  rupture  to  establish  their  incUipen- 
denee."  ^  Aj,'ain  lie  wrote,  22d  November,  17(iS : 
"  The  iXinericans  will  not  lose  out  of  their  vi'iw  their 
rights  and  their  privileges,  and  next  to  fanaticism  for 
religion,  the  fanaticism  for  liberty  is  the  most  daring 
in  its  measures  and  the  most  dangerous  in  its  con- 
sequences." That  the  plenipotentiary  was  not  less 
prompt  in  forecast  ap[)ears  in  a  letter  of  l)th  November, 
1708  :  "  Witiiout  exaggerating  the  projects  or  the  union 
of  the  Colonies  the  time  of  their  in(I(!])endence  is  very 
near Three  years  ago  the  separation  of  the  Eng- 
lish (Colonies  was  looked  upon  as  an  ol)ject  of  attention 
for  the  next  generation  ;  the  ;  ins  were  observed,  but 
no  one  could  foresee  that  they  would  be  so  speedily 
developed.  This  new  order  of  tilings,  this  event  which 
will  necessarily  have  the  greatest  intluence  on  the 
whole  political  system  of  Euro])e,  will  probably  be 
brought  about  within  a  very  few  years."  ^  The  Min- 
ister replied,  2()th  December,  1708:  "Your  views  are 
as  subtle  as  they  are  comprehensive  and  well  consid- 
ered. The  king  is  perfectly  aware  of  their  sagacity 
and  solidity,  and  T  will  communicate  tliem  to  the 
Court  of  Madrid."  * 

These  passages  show  a  persistency  of  view,  which  be- 
came the  foundation  of  French  policy,  so  thattlicDuke 
was  not  merely  a  prophet  but  a  practical  statesman, 
guided  by  remarkable  foresight.  He  lived  long  enougli 
to  witness  the  National  Independence  he  had  foretold, 

1  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  State<»,  Vol.  VI.  p.  169. 

•■'■  Ibid.,  p.  170.      "  3  Ibid.,  p.  244.  4  ibid.,  p.  245. 


Ann^    llAYNAL,    1770. 


71 


and  to  meet  Franklin  at  I'liris,  wliih*  saved  from  wit- 
nessing^ tlio  overthrow  of  tlie  MKjnarcliy  lie  had  served 
and  the  bloody  harvest  of  the  e.^ecutioner,  where  a 
beloved  sister  was  among  tlie  victims. 


AI'.HK  KAYNAl.,    1770. 

GuiLLAUMi:  Thomas  Uavxal,  of  Frani^o,  wnn  born 
11th  March,  1711,  and  died  (Jtli  Marcli,  17!M;,  tlins 
spanninj^:,  with  his  lonj.,'  life,  from  the  failing  years  of 
Louis  Xi\'.  to  the  lieign  of  Terror,  ainl  embracing  tlu; 
l»rolonged  period  of  intellectual  activity  whit  h  jm-pared 
the  lievolution.  Among  contemporary  "  ])hil(»s(.[iheis  " 
his  place  wiis  considerable.  Ihit  be  was  a  ]thilos(ij)her, 
with  a  cross  of  the  adventurer  and  charlatan, 

lieginning  as  Jesuit  and  as  ja-iest,  he  somewhat  tar- 
dily esca})ed  the  constraints  of  the  hitter  to  employ  the 
education  of  the  former  in  literary  enterprise.  A  hjng 
list  of  acknowledged  works  attests  the  activity  of  his 
pen,  while  others  were  attributed  to  him.  With  these 
avocations,  yielding  money,  mingled  joltbing  and  sj)ecula- 
tion,  where  even  the  slave-trade,  afterwards  furiously  con- 
demned, became  a  minister  of  fortune.  In  tlic  bright 
aUvl  audacious  circles  of  ]*aris,  esi)ecially  with  Diderot 
and  D'Holbach,  he  found  society.  The  rciuarkalile  fan^e 
which  he  reached  during  life  has  ceased,  and  his  volu- 
minous writings  slumber  in  oblivion,  except,  penhaps,  a 
single  one,  which  for  a  while  played  a  great  ])art  and, 
by  its  ]irophetic  spirit,  vindicates  a  place  in  our  Ameri- 
can gallery. 

Only  the  superficial  character  of  this  work  appears  in 
its  title,-  -"  Philosophical  and  Political  History  of  the 
Establishments  and  of  the  Commerce  of  Europeans  in 


72 


rilOPHMTIC   VOirKS   CONCKKNING   AMERICA. 


i    1 


the  two  IihUcm,"  ^  bt'in^'  in  four  volumes.  It  was  afmmo 
for  jiictunts  imd  (U'clamatiotiH  wlirro  rri'odoin  of  thouj^'ht 
was  pracLically  illustraU'd.  Tlan'oiort!  it  was  ])ul»lisliL'.(i 
without  the  naiuc  of  tliu  author  and  at  Amstcnlani.  'I'his 
was  as  carlv  as  1770.  Kdition  foHowud  cLlition.  Tim 
Jiioi/rtip/n'r  (/nhrr.sr/k  reports  no  less  than  twenty  rci^'U- 
hir  and  nioio  than  lifty  iiirated.  At  leasl  four  (silitions 
of  an  Mn^lisli  translation  saw  tlio  li^dit.  It  was  trans- 
lated, al)ri(l<^(!d,iind  r('j)rinted  in  nearly  all  tin;  lanj^ua^'es 
of  iMirope.  The  suhject  was  int(!restin<.j  at  thi;  time, 
hut  tlie  ])e('uliar  treatment  and  tlie  oj)en  assault  U])on 
existing,'  order  ^'ave  the  work  zest  and  ]>opularity. 
Thou<,di  often  vicious  in  style,  it  was  above  the  author  in 
force  and  character,  .so  that  it  was  easy  to  believe  that 
important  parts  were  contriltutcd  by  others.  Diderot, 
who  ])asse(l  his  life  in  ludjang  others,  is  said  to  have 
supplied  nearly  a  third  of  the  whole.  The  work  at  last 
dr(!W  down  untimely  venj^'eancuj.  Tn.spired  by  its  si<fnal 
success,  the  author,  in  1780,  after  the  lap.se  of  a  decade, 
put  forth  an  enlarged  edition,  with  frontispiece  and 
j)ortrait,  the  whole  reenforced  with  in.sertions  and  addi- 
tions, where  Christianity  and  even  the  existence  of  a 
(}od  were  treated  with  the  license  already  a])plied  to 
other  things.  The  Tarliament  of  Paris,  by  a  decree 
dated  INFay  21,  1781,  handed  the  work  to  the  ])ublic 
executioner  to  be  burned,  and  condemned  the  author 
in  ]ierson  and  goods      Se\eral  years  of  exile  followed. 

The  lievolution  in  France  found  the  Al)be  IJaynal 
mellowed  by  time,  and  with  his  su.staining  philosophers 
all  dead.  Declining  active  participation  in  the  great 
conflict,  he  reappeared  at  last,  so  far  as  to  address  the 

1  Ilistoiro  Pliilosopbiquo  et  Politique  des  Etablissemens  et  du  Commerce 
des  Europdetis  dans  les  deux  Indes. 


ADd£   UAYNAL,   1770. 


73 


Presiilcnt  of  the  Natioiifil  AsscniMy  a  letter  wliero  ho 
jileiuled  tor  inodcriitioii  and  an  uetive  j^'oveniineiit.  Tlu! 
ancient  assailant  of  kind's  now  called  for  *' the  tutelary 
protection  of  the  royal  authority."  The  early  cunt  was 
uxehanL,'('<l  for  irranf. 

TIh;  ('t)neludiu:4  hook  of  the  la:-L  eililion  of  his 
famous  work  contains  a  chapter  entitled  "  Has  the  Dis- 
covery of  America  heen  hurtful  or  useful  to  the  Hu- 
man iJace?"  And  this  same  ([uest ion  lu;  ])resented  as 
tho  suhject  for  a  prize  of  twelve  hundred  francs  to  be 
awarded  by  the  Aciukuny  of  Lyons.  Such  a  (piestioii 
reveals  a  stran{.;e  confusion,  inconsistent  willi  all  our 
l)rophetic  voices,  hut  to  be  jjardoned  at  a  time  when 
the  course  of  civilization  was  so  litth^  understood,  and 
lUiflbn  had  ainiounced,  as  the  conclusion  of  science,  that 
the  animal  creation  dej^enerated  on  the  American  Con- 
tinent. In  his  admirable  answer  to  the  <;reat  naturalist, 
Jefferson  rej)els  with  spirit  the  alle^i^ation  of  the  Abbe 
Jiaynal  that  "America  has  not  yet  produced  one  good 
poet,  one  skilful  mathematician,  one  man  of  genius  in 
a  single  art  or  science."^.  lUit  he  does  not  seem  aware 
that  the  author  in  his  edition  of  1780  had  already  beat- 
en a  retreat  from  his  original  ixjsition.*'^  This  is  more 
noteworthy  as  the  edition  a])peared  before  the  criticism. 

It  was  after  ]  ortraying  the  actual  condition  of  the 
English  Colon ios  in  colors  which  aroused  the  pro- 
test of  Jefferson  that  the  French  ])hilosopher  surren- 
dered to  a  vision  of  the  future.  In  reply  to  doubts 
he  invokes  time,  education,  civilization,  and  breaks 
Ibrth  :  — 

"Perhaps  then  it  will  be  seen  that  America  is  favorable  to 

1  Notes  on  Virpinia,  Query  VI.     Complete  Works,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  312. 

2  Liv.  XVIII.  chap.  32. 


|! 


Ill 


eli  <  1    \ 


M 
M 


flili, 
If 


I  Mi 


74 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


genius,  to  the  creative  arts  of  i)eace  and  of  society.  A  new 
Olympus,  an  Arcadia,  an  Athens,  a  new  Greece,  will  jn-oduco 
on  the  Continent,  or  in  the  archipelago  which  surrounds  it, 
Homers,  Theocrituses,  and  especially  Anacreons.  Perhaps 
anocher  Newton  will  rise  in  the  new  Britain.  It  is  from 
English  America,  do  not  doubt,  that  will  shoot  forth  the 
first  ray  of  the  sciences,  if  they  are  to  appear  at  last  under  a 
sky  so  long  clouded.  By  singular  contrast  with  the  ancient 
world,  where  the  arts  passed  from  the  South  towards  the 
North,  in  the  new  we  shall  witness  the  North  enlighten  the 
South.  Let  the  English  clear  the  land,  purify  the  air,  change 
the  climate,  meliorate  nature  ;  a  neiv  universe  ivill  proceed 
from  their  hands  for  the  fjlory  and  happiness  of  huiy^anityy  ^ 

Then,  speculating  on  the  dissensions  prcvuiling  be- 
tween the  Colonies  and  the  mother  country,  he  announces 
separation,  but  without  advantage  to  the  European  rivals 
of  England :  — 

"  Break  the  knot  which  binds  ancient  Britain  to  the  new ; 
soon  the  northern  colonies  alone  will  have  more  power  than 
they  possessed  in  union  with  the  mother  country.  This 
great  continent  enfranchised  from  all  compact  wit)>  Europe  will 

be  free   in  all   its  movements The  colonies  of  our 

absolute  monarchies,  following  the  example  of  the  English 
colonies,  will  themselves  break  the  c'-ain  which  binds  them 
shamefully  to  Europe.''  ^ 

The  New  World  op>ens  before  the  prophet .  — 

"  So  everything  conspires  to  produce  the  great,  disru^  tion, 
of  which  we  are  not  permitted  to  foresee  the  precise  i;ime. 
Everything  tends  thither,  —  the  progress  of  good  in  the  new 
hemisphere  and  the  progress  of  evil  in  the  old. 

1  Tom.  VI.  p.  379.     Liv.  XVIII.  (cd.  1772). 

2  Ibid.,  p.  426. 


ABB^   RAYNAL,    1770. 


75 


"  Alas  !  the  prompt  and  riipid  decline  of  onr  morals  and 
our  strength,  tiie  crimes  of  kings  and  tho  sufferings  of  tho 
people,  will  render  universal  this  fatal  catastrophe  which 
must  detach  one  \vorld  from  the  other.  The  mine  is  prepar- 
ing beneath  the  foundations  of  our  rocking  empires 

Wliile  oiu'  people  are  weakening  and  succumbing  to  each 
other,  population  and  .agriculture  are  increasing  in  America. 
The  arts  transported  by  our  care  will  (piickly  spring  up 
thej'c.  This  country,  derived  from  nothing,  burns  to  figure 
in  turn  upon  the  face  of  the  globe  and  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  0  posterity!  thou  wilt  be  more  happy,  ])erhaps,  than 
thy  unfortunate  and  contcn'.ptible  ancestors  I  "  ^ 

The  edition  of  1780  exhibits  his  sympathies  with  the 
Colonies.  In  considering  the  policy  of  the  house  of 
Bourbon,  he  recognizes  the  grasp  of  tlie  pending  revolu- 
tion. "  Tlie  United  States,"  he  says,  "  have  shown  openly 
the  project  of  drawing  to  their  confederation  all  North 
America"  ',  and  he  mentions  especially  tlie  uwitatioii  to 
the  people  of  Canada.  While  (juestioning  the  conduct 
of  France  and  Spain,  he  adds  :  — 

"  llie  new  hemisphere  must  detach  itself  some  day  from  the 
old.  This  great  dismcml)erment  is  prepared  in  Europe  by 
the  fermentation  and  the  shoclt  of  our  opinions ;  by  the 
overthrow  of  our  righ'  s,  which  created  our  courage  ;  by  the 
luxury  of  our  courts  and  the  wretchedness  of  our  fields  ;  by 
the  hate,  enduring  forever,  between  tlio  cowards  who  possess 
all  and  the  robust,  even  the  virtuous,  who  have  nothing  more 
to  lose  than  life.  It  is  prepared  in  America  by  the  growth 
of  population,  of  agriculture,  of  industry,  and  of  intelligence. 
All  moves  to  that  scission.''''  ^ 

In  a  sketch  which  follows  are  pictured  the  resources 


I 


■        i; 


1  Tom.  VI.  pp.  427,  428. 

2  Liv.  XVIII.  chap.  52. 


h 


|iP.I!imJ"mL. 


•|! 


I 


II 


■I  t! 


m 


i  - 1! 


i 


i 
i 


11 


76 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


of  the  "  tliirteen  confederate  provinces  "  and  tlieir  future 
development.  While  confessing  that  the  name  uf  liberty 
is  sweet ;  that  it  is  the  cause  of  the  entire  human  race  ; 
that  revolutions  in  its  name  are  a  lesson  to  des])ots  ;  that 
the  spirit  of  justice,  which  rewards  past  evils  l)y  future 
lKip])iness,  is  i^eased  to  believe  that  this  part  of  tlieivlew 
World  cannot  fail  to  become  one  of  tlie  most  tlourishin*' 
countries  oi  the  globe  ;  and  that  some  go  so  far  as  to 
fear  (/i((t  Europe  maij  sojilc  chiij  find  its  luudcra  in  it^ 
vklldrcn}  he  proceeds  to  facts  whicli  may  mitigate 
anxiely, 

The  proj)heti(;  words  of  TJaynal  dilfer  from  others 
already  quoted.  Instead  of  letters  or  papers,  ])uried  in 
secrecy  or  disclosed  to  a  few  only,  they  were  oi)en  ])r()c- 
lamations  circulated  througliout  Euro])e,  and  their  influ- 
ence began  as  early  as  1770.  A  prompt  translation 
made  tliem  known  in  Euglaiid.  In  1777  tliey  were 
rpioted  l)y  an  Euglisli  waiter  })leadiiig  for  us.^  Among 
influences  cooperating  with  the  justice  of  our  cau.se, 
they  Avcre  of  con.stant  activity,  until  at  last  France, 
Spain,  and  Holland  openly  united  with  us. 


JONATHAN   SHIPLEY,    P.ISHOP  oF  ST.    ASAPH,   1773. 

Not  without  heartfell  i'l»^>tion  do  I  write  this  name, 
never  to  be  nientioudd  dy  an  Amoiran  without  a  senti- 
ment of  gratitude  find  love.  Kiich  goodness  and  ability, 
dedicated  so  fiiHilj'  to  (jur  cau.se,  make  Shipley  conspic- 
uous among  his  contemporaries.  In  beauty  of  charactei- 
and  in  prophetic  spirit  he  resembles  Berkeley,     And  yet 

1  T.iv.  XVni.  thiip.  52. 

2  Dr.  Prico,  in  liis  second  tract,  "  Additional  O'i=crvntions  on  the  Nature 
and  Value  of  Civil  Liberty  and  the  War  vvitli  America,"  p.  49,  note. 


JONATHAN    SHIPLEY,    1773. 


77 


biographical  dictionaries  forget  to  mention  liim,  and  in 
our  country  lie  is  known  cliiefly  tlirougli  the  friendship 
of  Franklin,  lie  was  born  about  171-4,  and  died  9tli 
December,  1788. 

His  actual  i)rclerments  in  the  Church  attest  a  certain 
success,  arrested  at  last  l)y  his  sympathy  for  us.  At 
an  early  day  John  Adams  spoke  of  him  as  "the  l)est 
bishop  that  adorns  the  bench."  ^  And  we  learn  from 
"Wraxall,  that  it  was  Ihnjugli  the  hostility  of  the  king 
that  during  the  short-lived  Coalition  ]\linistry  Fo\  was 
prevented  from  making  him  Archbisho})  of  Canterbury." 
But  hi,5  public  life  was  better  than  any  prelacy.  It  is 
impossi])le  to  read  his  writings  without  discovering  the 
stamp  of  su])eriority,  where  accuracy  and  clearness  go 
hand  in  hand  with  courage  and  truth. 

Tlie  relations  of  Franklin  with  the  good  bishop  are  a 
beautiful  ejiisodu  in  our  revolutionary  history.  Twc* 
mvu,  one  Fnglisli  and  the  other  American,  venera- 
ble with  vears,  mingled  in  friendshii)  warm  as  tliat  of 
youth,  but  steady  to  th^  grave,  joining  identity  of  sen- 
timent on  iin])ortant  public  questions  with  personal 
affection.  While  Franklin  remained  in  Fngland,  as 
colonial  representative,  watching  the  currents,  lu;  was 
a  fre(pient  guest  at  the  Fjiglishman's  country  home, 
and  tliere  he  entered  upon  his  incomparable  autol)iog- 
ra])hy,  leaving  behind  sucli  jdeasant  memories  tliat  af- 
terwards the  family  never  walked  in  the  garden  "  with- 
out seeino-  Dr.  Franklin's  room  and  thiidving  of  tlie  work 
tliat  was   l)egun  in  it."'  ^     One  of  the  daugliters,  in  a 

1  Works,  Vo],  TV.   p.  37.     Novaiiglus,  or  ii  History  of  tlic  Dispute  with 
America,  written  in  1774. 

2  Historical  Memoirs  ofiiis  own  Time,  Vol.  HI.  p.  347  (ed.  1830). 

3  Franldin'>  Worlds  liy  Spit  ks.  Vol.  VHI.  p.  220.     Letter  of  Miss  Catha- 
rine Louisa  Shipley,  2il  Auj^u-t,  1785. 


* 


''•'~^'''™!™™''"'trw''»"'''^''W''''«iwwnw«('»WB«^siB(!^^ 


78 


PUOPIIETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERIC.N. 


til 


touching  letter  to  the  latter,  then  at  his  own  home  in 
rhiladelphia,  informed  him  of  her  fatlier's  death,  who, 
in  reply  to  his  "  dear  younj,'  friend,"  expressed  his  sense 
of  the  loss,  "  not  to  liis  family  {ind  friends  only,  but  to 
his  nation  and  the  world,"  and  then,  after  mentioning 
tliat  he  was  in  his  eighty-fourtli  year  and  consi(lt;rably 
enfeebled,  added,  "  You  will  then,  my  dear  friend,  con- 
sider this  as  prol)ably  the  last  line  to  be  received  from 
me  and  as  a  taking  leave."  ^ 

Til  is  brief  story  prepares  the  way  for  the  two  produc- 
tions illustrating  his  service  to  us.  The  first  has  tlie 
following  title :  "  A  Sermon  preached  before  tlie  Incor- 
porated Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts,  at  tlieir  Anniversary  Meeting  in  tlie  Par- 
ish of  St.  ]\Iary-]e-I)OW,  on  Friday,  February  19,  1773." 
Of  this  discourse  several  editions  appeared  in  London, 
New  York,  and  P»oston.^  Lord  Cliath.am,  after  confess- 
ing himself  "  charmed  and  edified  "  1)y  it,  wrote  :  "  This 
noble  discourse  speaks  the  preacher  not  only  fit  to  bear 
rule  in  the  state  ;  indeed,  it  does  honor  to  the  right- 
reverend  bench."  3  Franklin,  coupling  it  with  his  other 
productions  relating  to  America,  wrote  :  "Had  his  coun- 
sels in  those  pieces  been  attended  to  by  the  Ministers, 
how  much  bloodshed  might  have  been  preventer!,  and 
how  much  expense  and  disgrace  to  the  nation  avoided."  * 

1  Franklin's  Works  by  Sparks,  Vol.  X.  p.  391.  Letter  to  Miss  Catharine 
Loni<a  Shipley,  27th  April,  ITf^O. 

2  One  of  London  and  another  of  New  York  are  in  the  Conpjressional  Li- 
brary. The  New  York  copy  has  the  pencil  lines  of  ^Ir.  Webster,  markinfr 
what  he  calls  't remarkable  passarjes"  nsed  by  him  in  his  "Address  at  the 
Layinfr  of  the  Corner-stone  of  the  Addition  to  the  Capitol,  4tli  Julv,  1851." 
Works,  Vol.  11.  p.  597. 

3  Correspondence  of  Earl  of  Chatham,  Vol.  IV.  p.  302.  Letter  to  Earl 
ofShelbnrne,  October  24,  1773. 

*  Works  by  Sparks,  Vol.  X.  p  391. 


i    I 


JONATHAN   SIIirLEY,   177?. 


79 


This  discourse  was  from  the  text,  "  Glory  be  to  God 
in  the  hi^diest,  and  on  eartli  peace,  j^ood-will  towards 
men."  ^  Alter  announcin;^  tliat  "  ])erliaps  the  annals  of 
history  have  never  afforded  a  more  griitel'ul  spectacle  to 
a  benevolent  and  })hil()sophic  mind  than  tlie  growth 
and  progress  of  the  British  Colonies  in  North  America," 
tlie  pi-eacher  becomes  i)rophet,  and  here  his  words  are 
memorable :  — 

**  The  colonics  of  North  America  have  not  only  taken  root 
and  acquired  strength,  but  seem  hastening  with  an  accel- 
erated progress  to  such  a  powerful  state  as  ma//  introduce  a 
new  and  important  change  in  human  affairs^ 


.  "  2 


Then  picturing  the  Colonies  as  receiving  "  by  inher- 
itance all  the  improvements  and  discoveries  of  their 
mother  country,"  —  commencing  "their  flourishing 
state,  at  a  time  when  the  human  understanding  has  at- 
tained to  the  free  use  of  its  powers,  and  has  lea.ned  to 
act  with  vigor  and  certainty,"  and  being  in  such  a  situ- 
ation that  "  they  may  avail  themselves,  not  only  of  the 
experience  and  industry,  but  even  of  the  errors  and  mis- 
takes, of  former  days,"  the  prophet  proceeds  :  — 

**  The  vast  continent  itself,  over  which  they  arc  gradually 
spreading,  may  ho  considered  a  treasure  yet  imtouched  of 
natural  productions,  that  hereafter  shall  afford  ample  matter 
for  commerce  and  contemplation.  And  if  wc  reflect  what  a 
stock  of  knowledge  may  be  accumulated  by  the  constant 
progress  of  industry  and  observation,  .  ...  it  's  difficult 
even  to  imar/ine  to  what  height  of  improvement  their  discoveries 
may  extend."  ^ 

* 

The  prophet  opens  another  vista  :  "And  perhaps 
they  may  make  as  considerable  advances  in  the  arts  of 


1  Luke  ii.  14. 


2  Page  5. 


8  Page  7. 


:"k 


;.'i 


I 


80 


PROniETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


I  i  I 


I   m 


'..ill 


.i'H 


civil  government  and  tlic  conduct  of  lile."  Then  cxliil)- 
iting  the  excellences  of  the  JJritish  Constitutioi.  with 
its  "e({Uid  representation,"  which  he  calls  "  the  best  dis- 
covery of  political  wisdom,"  and  incpurinii,'  anxiously  if 
they  "  must  rest  here,  as  in  the  utmost  effort  of  human 
•genius,"  tlie  preacher  becomes  again  prophetic:  — 

"  May  they  n(;t  ])o.ssibly  bo  more  successful  than  their 
mother  country  has  been  in  preserving  that  reverence  and 
authority  which  are  due  to  the  laws,  —  to  those  who  nmko 
and  to  those  who  execute  them  1  May  not  a  method  bo  in- 
vented of  })rocuring  some  tolerable  share  of  tlie  comforts 
of  hfe  to  those  inferior,  useful  ranks  of  men,  to  whose  indus- 
try we  are  indebted  for  the  whole  ?  Tinw  and  dUcipline  inny 
discover  some  inecais  to  correct  the  extreme  iiicqiidlitics  of  covdi- 
tion  between  the  rick  and  the  poor,  so  dan'/erons  to  the  inno- 
cence and  ha/>piness  of  both/  ^ 

l)eautiful  words!  And  in  the  same  spirit  the  prophet 
discerns  increasing  opi)ortunities  of  progress:  — 

"  The  diversities  of  new  scenes  and  situations,  which  so 
many  growing  States  must  necessarily  pass  througb,  ma// 
introduce  chanf/es  in  the  jUictnntin;/  opinions  and  manners  of 
men,  lekich  we  can  form  1,0  conception  of.  And  not  only  the 
gracious  disposition  of  Providence,  but  the  visible  ])rei)ara- 
tion  of  causes,  seems  to  indicate  strong  tendencies  toivards  a 
f/enercd  improvement.'"  '^ 

To  a  spirit  so  elevated  the  oldigations  of  duty  are  the 
same  for  nations  n'<  for  individuals,  and  be  nobly  \  indi- 
cates the  duty  of  the  Christian  preacher  "  to  point  out 
the  laws  of  justir-e  and  equity  whieli  must  ultimately 
regulate  the  hai>piness  of  States  as  well  as  of  individu- 
als," ^  and  wdiicli  he  declares  are  no  other  than  "  those 


lil! 


1  Page  8. 


2  Pago  9. 


8  rage  13. 


JONATHAN    SlIirLl'Y,    1773. 


81 


benevolent  Christian  morals  wliicli  it  is  the  j)rovinee 
of  this  Society  to  teach,  transferred  IVoni  the  duties  of 
j)rivate  life  to  the  achiiinistration  of  pul)lic  affairs." ' 
Then  again  he  declares  amazement,  in  wliich  all  hut 
hardened  politicians  will  unite,  at  seeing  "how  slowly 
in  all  countries  the  jirinciples  of  natural  justice,  wiiich 
are  so  evidently  necessary  in  private  life,  liave  been  ad- 
mitted into  tlie  administration  of  public  affairs."  And, 
in  the  same  sjurit,  he  announces  :  — 

"  A  time,  1  doubt  not,  will  couic,  in  the  progressive  im- 
provement of  Innnau  atfiiirs,  when  the  checks  and  restraints 
we  lay  on  tlie  industry  of  our  fellow-subjects  and  the  jeal- 
ousies we  conceive  at  their  prosperity  will  be  considered  as 
the  etfects  of  a  mistaken  polic^y,  prejudicial  to  all  particH, 
but  chiefly  to  ourselves."  ^ 

Then,  after  announcing  our  duty  "  to  luiiko  our  country 
great  and  powerful  and  rich,  not  l)y  force  or  fraud,  but 
by  justice,  friendship,  and  humanity,"  this  remarkable 
sermon  concludes  with  calling  attention  to  "plain  good 
rules  so  often  repeated  to  us  in  Scripture,  "which  "  lie  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  men,  lib;  medicinnl  hcrliM  in  tin;  open 
field." 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  the  j)rnacl)(n*  lets  drop 
words  often  quoted  since  and  doul)th'HH  considered  much 
in  conversation  with  Franklin.  Afl< c  setting  forth  that 
the  Colonies  had  been  trusted,  in  good  mensure,  with  the 
entire  management  of  their  affairs,  he  i)roceeds  to  say  i 
"  And  the  success  they  have  met  with  ought  to  ]>e  to  us 
a  memorable  proof  that  tJic  true  art  of  ijovcrnmcnt  con- 
sists in  not  (jovcrning  too  mnch!'^ 

In  similar  spirit  the  good  bishop  came  to  the  defence 


j 


5    i 


1  Pn<TO  14. 


4  * 


^  Pago  15. 


8  Page  10. 


82 


rUOrilETIG   VOICKS   CON'CI'UNING  AMKUICA. 


of  ^Miissiicliusetts  in  tlio  ciisis  which  followed  the  nulli- 
fication ot  the  Tea  Tax  ;  as  witness  an  able  panijjhlet, 
])i'inte(l  in  J  774,  entitled  "  A  Si)eecli  intended  to  have 
been  spoken  on  tiie  liill  tor  altering  tlie  Charters  of  the 
Colonies  of  Massachusetts  IJay."  In  this  most  vigorous 
])roduction,  rei)<)rted  ])y  FninUlin  as  "  a  masterpiece  of 
elociuence,"  ^  where  he  ])leads  for  reconciliation,  after 
announcing  that  England  had  drawn  from  the  Colonies, 
by  comnHirce,  "  more  clear  profit  than  Spain  has  drawn 
from  all  its  mines," '-^  he  says:  "  Let  them  continue  to 
enjoy  the  liberty  our  fathers  ga\x'  them  !  Gave  them,  did 
I  say  ?  Tiiey  are  coheirs  of  lil)erty  with  ourselves  ;  and 
their  portion  of  the  iniu'ritance  has  been  much  better 
looked  after  thiin  ours."'*^  'fheii  again:  "  Mv  Lords,  I 
look  uj)on  North  America  as  the  only  great  nursery  of 
freemen  now  left  upon  the  face  of  eartli."*  And  yet 
once  UKjre  :  "  But  whatever  may  be  our  future  fate,  the 
greatest  glory  tliat  attends  this  country,  a  greater  tlian 
any  otlier  nation  ever  accpiired,  is  to  have  formed  and 
nursed  up  to  such  a  state  of  happiness  those  colonies 
M'hom  we  are  now  so  eager  to  butclier.'"^  Tlianks,  per- 
petual tlianks,  to  the  good  friend  who  stood  so  well  by 
our  country  in  its  beginning  and  discerned  so  clearly  its 
exalted  future. 


ir 


I 


DEAN  TTTCKKR,  1774. 

In  contrast  with  Shijdey  was  his  contemporary,  Jo- 
siah  Tucker,  also  of  the  Churcli,  who  was  born  171-  and 
died  4th  No\ember,  17U0. 

The  contrast  is  more  curious  when  it  is  considered 
that  Tucker,  like  Shi[)ley,  was  for  i\it>  peaceful  separa- 

1  Letter  t(.  Mr.  Cuuinlio,  July  22,  1774.     Works,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  124. 


2  l»:iy;e  15. 


a  I'asc  27. 


■4  Patce  31. 


6  Page  32. 


DEAN   TUCKKU,    1774. 


83 


tion  of  tlio  Colonies  from  the  motlior  country;  Imt  llio 
tdi'int!!'  WHS  bitini;  and  cynicul,  whih;  tlu;  hitlt'i"  was 
synipatliutic  and  kind.  Tliu  i'(.)rni*.;r  acnit  i'orth  a  suc»30s- 
sion  of  criticisms  as  from  the  tub  of  Dio'^iaics,  wliil(3  tlio 
latter,  with  genial  power,  vindicated  America  Jind  pre- 
dicted its  future.  The  former  was  a  carpiuL,'  censor  and 
enemy  of  Fianklin  ;  tlie  latter,  his  loving  friend. 

Tucker  was  rector  of  Uristol  and  dean  of  (lloucester, 
and  he  announces  that  he  had  "  written  near  tlirec  hun- 
dred sermons  and  j)reached  tliem  all  attain  and  ii^ain  " ; 
hut  it  was  by  political  essays  tliat  he  made  Ins  name 
known  nnd  became  a  conspicuous  ghidiator. 

Here  it  is  easy  to  recognize  industry,  facility,  bold- 
ness. He  was  not  afraid  to  speak  out,  nor  did  he  shrink 
from  coping  with  those  who  commanded  the  public  at- 
tention,—  joining  issue  directly  with  Burke  "in  answer 
to  his  printed  speech,  said  to  he  >ipo/,:r.ii  in  the  House  of 
Commons  on  the  22d  of  iVIarcb,  ITTo,"  being  that  fa- 
mous masterpiece,  on  ''conciliation  with  America,"  so 
much  rend,  so  often  (juoted,  nnd  so  highly  j)laced  among 
the  efforts  of  human  genius.  The  Dean  used  jdaiu  lan- 
guage, chariiiuii  the  great  o -ator  with  excelling  "in  the 
art  of  ambiguous  expressions,"'  and  at  all  times  ha\  ing 
one  general  end  in  view,  "to  amuse  with  tropes  and  fig- 
ures and  great  swelling  words,"  and  hoping  that  while 
emulating  the  freedom  of  lUirke  in  examining  the  writ- 
ings and  opinions  of  others,  he.  should  do  it  "with  mon; 
decency  and  good  manners."  jNIore  than  once  the  Dean 
complains  that  the  orator  had  classed  him  by  name 
with  what  he  called  "court  vermine." 

As  early  as  L700,  in  the  heats  of  the  Stamp  Art,  he 
entered  the  lists  by  an  unann'abh^  ])amphlet,  entitled 
"A  Letter  from  a  iVIerchant  in  London  to  his  Nei)hew 


i 


1  r 
If 


r:r 


1 1 


m 


III ' 


8-4 


rUorilKTlC   VOICES  CONCEUNING   AMEIIICA. 


I 


.k 


I    M  ,: 

•Mill 

!l  i 


Hill 


il! 


in  North  Amuricii,  rcliitivo  to  tlio  im'sent  rosturo  of 
Allliirs  ill  till!  (.'((lollies."  Jleru  ;i])i)(!ui',s  tlic  vigorous 
cyni(.'isiu  ol'  his  imture.  Tho  Jiiothor  country  is  viii<U- 
catod,  and  the  Colonies  are  told  that  "  the  complaint  of 
being  unrepresented  is  entirely  false  and  groundless," 
inasnnich  as  every  lueniher  of  I'arlianient,  when  once 
chosen,  becomes  "  the  e(iual  guardian  of  all,"  and  "  uur 
liirminghams,  Manchesters,  Leetls,  Halifaxes,  and  yoitr 
JJostons,  New  Yorks,  and  Pliiladelphias  are  as  rcalh/, 
though  not  so  nominally,  n^presented  as  any  part  what- 
ever of  the  ih'itish  Kmpire.'-^  In  the  same  spirit  ho 
ridiculed  thfj  pretensii^is  of  colonists,  ])utting  into  their 
mouths  tlie  words  "  What !  an  island  !  A  spot  such  as 
this  to  command  the  great  and  mighty  continent  of  North 
America  !  Treposterous  !  A  continent  wiiose  inhabitants 
double  every  five-and-tvventy  years  !  AVho,  therefore, 
within  a  century  and  a  half,  will  be  upwards  of  a  hundred 
and  seventy  millions  of  souls  !  Forbid  it,  ])atriotism,  for- 
bid it,  politics,  that  such  a  great  and  mighty  emjjiro  as 
this  should  be  held  in  subjection  by  the  paltry  kingdom 
of  Great  iJritain  !  llathcr  let  the  scat  of  empire  he  trans- 
ferred ;  and  let  it  he  fixed  where  it  ought  to  be,  namelij,  in 
great  Aincriea'"  \^  and  then  declaring  "  the  calculations 
themselves  both  false  and  absurd,"'^  taunting  tlie  colo- 
nists  with  inability  to  make  the  mother  country  "a 
province  of  America,"  ^  and  depicting  the  evils  that 
will  ensue  to  them  from  separation,  he  announces  that, 
"  having  been  surfeited  with  the  bitter  fruits  of  Ameri- 
can  liepublicanism,  they  will  heartily  wish  and  petition 
to  be  again  united  to  the  mother  country."  * 

1  A  Letter  from  a  Merchant  in  London  to  his  Nephew  in  North  Atr.erica, 
etc.,  pp.  19,  20. 
a  Ibid.,  p.  42.  8  ibid.,  p.  43.  4  ibid.,  p.  54. 


DEAN   TUCKER,   1774. 


85 


As  the  conflict  apjuoaclied,  tlii!  Dean  booixnie  mora 
earnest  ind  incessant.  In  1771  lie  ])iil)li.sli('(l  a  Itook, 
entitled  "  luir  Tracts  (»n  Political  and  ( 'oiunicrcial  Sub- 
jects," of  which  the  tluid  was  a  reprint  oi  the  "Letter 
I'roin  I  Merchant  of  London,"  and  the  Iburth  was  a  new 
appeal,  entitled  "The  true  Inttsrest  nf  (Ireat  IJritain  set 
Ibith  in  regard  to  the  Colonies,  and  the  only  Means  of 
living  in  Peace  and  ilarinony  with  liieni  [inchahiiij' five 
(lillerent  )>liins  lor  eilecting  this  salutary  nieasuiej.  "^ 
Here  he  openly  proposed  separation  and  [»r(!dicted  its 
advantage  to  Kngland.  On  general  grounds  li<  was  per- 
suaded that  extensive  colonies  were  an  evil  rather  than 
an  advantage,  especially  to  a  conunercial  nation,  wlele 
he  was  satisfied  ot  a  nresent  alienation  on  the  tnirt  of 


America,  which  it  would  l)e  un])rolitaMe,  if  not  ]>erilous, 
to  cond)at.  England  was  in  no  mood  for  such  truth, 
and  the  author  was  set  down  as  madman  or  ([uack. 
Evidently  he  was  a  ])ro])het. 

A  few  passages  will  show  the  character  of  this  re- 
markable production. 

"It  is  the  nature  of  tlnmi  all  [coloniesj  to  aspire  after  in- 
dcpcnclcnco,  and  to  set  \ip  for  themselves  as  soon  as  ever 
they  find  that  tlioy  arc  able  to  subsist  without  being  be- 
holden to  the  mother  country.  "  ^ 

True  enough,  and  often  said  by  others.  In  (healing 
with  the  different  plans  the  Dean  shows  originality. 
To  the  idea  of  compulsion  by  arms  he  exclaimed  :  "  lUit 
alas  !  victory  alone  is  but  a  poor  compensation  for  all 
the  blood   and  treasure  which  nnist   be  spilt."  ^     The 

1  This  Fourth  Tract  was  published  separately  in  Philadelphia,  in  1774, 
with  the  above  title. 

2  Four  Tracts,  p.  161. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  190. 


lit.- 

a-' 


fii 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


A 


1.0 


LI 


11.25 


1^128 

us 

III 


140 


I 


2.5 
2.2 

2.0 


1.8 


IM  IIIIIM 


III 


VQ 


y 


r 


^;. 


''v^ 


^^ 


V 


Sdences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)872-4503 


: 


^ 


v\ 


^^ 


1  'li 

fl1 


8G 


riJOl'IIETlC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


•Hi 


lili 


Hi 


in  itiii 


plan  iiuiubcred  Fourth  was  nothing  leiiS  than  that 
Aniurica  should  bt'conie  the  general  seat  of  empire,  and 
that  (Ireat  Britain  and  Ireland  should  be  governed  by 
viceroys  "  from  the  court  residences  either  at  Philadel- 
pliia  or  Xew  York  or  some  other  American  imperial 
city,"  to  which  the  indefatigable  Dean  replies:  — 

"  Now,  wild  as  such  a  scheme  may  appear,  there  are  cer- 
tainly some  Americans  who  seriously  embrace  it  ;  and  the 
late  ])V('digious  swarms  of  emigrants  encourage  them  to  sup- 
pose tiiat  a  time  is  a[)proaclnng  when  the  seat  of  empire 
nuist  be  changed.  JJut  whatever  events  may  be  in  the 
womb  of  time,  or  whatever  revolutions  may  happen  in  the 
rise  and  fall  of  empires,  there  is  not  the  least  probability 
that  this  country  should  ever  become  a  province  to  Nortli 
America Unless,  indeed,  we  should  add  one  extrava- 
gance to  another,  by  su})posiug  that  the  Americans  are  to 
con(|uer  all  tha  world,  and  in  that  case  I  do  ahow  that  Eng- 
land must  become  a  province  to  America.  "  ^ 

Then  comes  the  Fifth  Plan,  which  M'as  "  to  separate 
entirely  from  the  North  American  Colonies  by  declaring 
them  to  be  a  free  and  independent  people,  over  whom 
we  lay  no  claim,  and  then  by  offering  to  guarantee  this 
freedom  and  independence  against  all  foreign  invaders 
whatever."^  And  he  proceeds  to  show  that  by  such 
separation  the  mother  country  would  not  lose  the  trade 
of  the  Colonies.  His  unamiable  nature  Hares  out  in  the 
suggestion  that  "  the  moment  a  se])aration  takes  effect, 
intestine  ([uarrels  will  begin  "  ;^  that  "in  proportion  as 
their  rei)ul)lican  spirit  shall  intrigue  and  cabal,  they  will 
s])lit  into  parties,  divide  and  subdivide,"  while  his  con- 
fidence in  the  result  is  declared ;  "  and  yet  I  have  ob- 


1  Four  Tracts,  p.  201. 


2  Ibid.,  p.  203. 


8  Ibid.,  p.  219. 


DFAN   TUCKFU,    1774. 


87 


served,  and  liave  myself  had  some  L'xi>erience,  that 
hieasures  evidently  right  will  prevail  .at  last  "  ;  thc;re- 
fore  he  had  not  the  least  doul)t  but  that  a  sepaiation 
would  take  place  "  within  half  a  century."  ^  Tliougl. 
seeing  tlie  separation  so  clearly,  he  did  n(»t  see  how  near 
at  liand  it  then  was. 

Tlic  Dean  grew  more  earnest.  Other  pa'nphk'ts  fol- 
lowed; for  instance,  in  177"),  "An  iluuihle  Ad  Ircss 
and  Earnest  Api)eal,  whether  a  Connectiini  with  or  a 
Separation  from  the  Continental  Colonies  of  AuKiiica  be 
most  for  tiie  National  Advantage  and  the  lasting  l»ene- 
iit  of  these  Kingdoms."     Here  he  says  openly  :  — 

"  My  scheme,  which  Mr.  Biu'ke  is  i)leasod  to  term  u  cliild- 
ish  one,  i.s  to  separate  totally  from  the  Colonies,  and  to 
reject  them  from  being  fellow-members  and  joint-i)artakers 
with  us  in  the  privileges  and  advantiiges  of  the  liritibh  Empire, 
because  tliey  I'efiise  to  subm'  to  the  authority  and  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  British  legislature,  —  otfering  at  the  same  time 
to  enter  into  alliances  of  friendship  antl  treaties  of  com- 
merce with  them,  as  with  any  other  sovereign,  independent 
state."  2 

Then,  insisting  that  his  scheme  "  most  infallibly  cuts  off 
all  the  present  causes  of  dispute  and  contention  be- 
tween the  two  countries,  so  that  they  never  can  revive 
again,"  ^  he  establishes  that  commercial  intercourse  with 
the  Americans  would  not  cease,  inasmuch  as  it  cannot 
be  shown  that  they  "will  no  longer  adhere  to  their  own 
interest  when  they  shall  be  disunited  from  us."  * 

Among  subseqnent  tracts  was  one  entitled  "Cui  Bo- 
no ?    Or  an  Inquiry  what  Benefits  can  arrive  either  to 


i 


'  *  : 


1  Four  Tracts,  p.  221. 

2  Page  5. 


3  I'age  29. 


4  Pace  48. 


•      1 ,( 

S 

j: 

1 1.    > 


;       I 


88 


PllOrilETIC   VOICES   CONCi:UXING   A.MEinCA. 


England  or  tlie  Americans,  the  French,  Spaniards,  or 
Diitcli,  from  tlie  greatest  Victories  or  Successes  in  the 
present  AVai',  being  a  Series  of  Letters  addressed  to 
Monsieur  Necker,  late  (,V)ntroner-Generalof  the  Finawces 
of  France.  Tiinted  at  (llocester,  1782."  Here  was  the 
sjime  ar(h)r  lor  separation,  with  the  same  bitter  words 
for  the  Colonies. 

Tardily  the  foresight  of  tlie  Dean  was  recognized, 
until  at  last  Arclibishop  Whately,  in  his  annotation 
upon  liacon's  Essay  on  Honor  and  lleputation  com- 
memorates it  as  an  historic  example.  According  to  him 
"the  whole  British  nation  were  in  one  particular  mani- 
festly ])n:::dc-hcaded ,  except  one.  man,  who  was  accord- 
ingly derided  by  all."  Then  mentioning  the  dispute 
between  the  mother  country  and  her  colonies,  he  says : 
"But  l)ean  Tucker,  standing  quite  alone,  wrote  a  pam- 
phlet to  show  tha^,  the  separation  would  be  no  loss  at 
all,  and  that  we  had  best  give  them  tlie  independence 
they  coveted  at  once  and  in  a  friendly  way.  Some 
thought  he  was  writing  in  jest ;  the  rest  despised  him 
as  too  absurd  to  be  Avortli  answering.  But  now,  and 
for  above  half  a  century,  every  one  admits  that  he  was 
([uite  right,  and  regrets  that  his  view  was  not  adopted."  ^ 
T^n(piestionably  this  is  a  remarkable  tribute.  Kindred 
to  it  was  that  of  the  excellent  Professor  Smyth,  who,  in 
exhibiting  the  "  American  AVar,"  dw^dls  on  "  the  supe- 
rior and  the  memorable  wisdom  of  Tucker."  ^ 

The  bad  temper  shooting  from  his  writings  interfered, 
doubtless,  with  their  acceptance.  His  .spirit,  so  hostile 
to  us,  justified  his  ow^n  characterization  of  himself  as 
"  tlu    author  of  these  tracts  against  the  rebel  Ameri- 

1  Riicoii's  Essnys,  by  Wluitoly,  p.  48G. 

2  Eeotures  on  Modern  History,  Vol.  II.  p.  380,  Lecture  XXXII. 


^^~."»T 


DEAN   TUCKER,   1774. 


89 


cans."  As  the  war  drew  to  a  close,  liis  bad  temper  still 
prevailed,  heightened  by  antijjathy  to  repul)lieanisni,  so 
that,  after  picturiiij^  the  Colonies,  separated  at  last  Ironi 
the  mother  country,  as  liavini;'  "  gained  a  general  disap- 
pointment mixed  with  anger  and  indignation,"  ^  he  tiius 
predicts  their  terrible  destiny  :  — 

"As  to  tlio  futuro  gnuidcur  of  Aniericu  aiul  its  being  a 
rising  cnipiro  midor  one  Head,  Avliotlicr  republican  or  ino- 
nurchicul,  it  is  one  of  the  idlest  uud  most  visionary  no- 
tions  that  ever  was  conceived,  even  by  writers  of  romance. 
For  there  v.i  nothing  in  tlio  genius  of  the  people,  the  situa- 
tion of  their  country,  or  the  nature  of  their  diflercnt  cli- 
mates, which  tends  to  countenance  such  a  sui)position 

Above  all,  when  those  inuncnso  inland  regions  bey(>nd  the 
back  settlements,  which  arc  still  unexplored,  are  taken  into 
the  account,  they  form  the  liighcst  })robabi!ity  that  the 
Americans  never  can  be  united  into  one  compact  em])ire, 
under  any  species  of  government  whatever.  Their  fate 
seems  to  be  —  <(  disunited  people  till  t/ie  end  of  tinier  ^ 

Alas  !  But  evidently  the  Dean  saw  the  future  of  our 
continent  no  better  than  the  ]\Iinistry  saw  their  duty 
with  regard  to  it. 


r 


;   n 


,s 


Unlike  in  spirit  was  ]\Iathew  Ilobinson,  a  contempo- 
rary friend  of  America,  whose  able  and  elaborate  tracts  ^ 
in  successive  editions  are  now  forgotten  except  so  far  as 
revived  by  the  praise  of  Professor  Smyth.*     Ilis  vindi- 

1  Ciii  Ronn  ?  p.  FO. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  117,  lis. 

^  Consideriitinns  on  the  Mpafures  carryinp;  on  with  respect  to  the  British 
Colonies  in  North  Amcrien,  1774.  A  further  Examination  of  onr  present 
.\meriean  Measures  and  of  the  Reasons  and  Principlos  on  wliich  they  are 
founded,  1776. 

<  Lectures  on  Modern  History,  Vol.  II.  p.  38.3,  Lecture  XXXII. 


i' 


!:li 


.1 


il 

II 


j::  :: 


i 


i:li| 


^liii 


90 


rROrilKTIC   VOICES   CON'CERNING  AMERICA. 


cation  of  the  ('olouies,  at  the  time  of  the  r)ostoii  Port 
])ill,  was  coiiii)lete,  without  tlie  harslniess  of  Tucker, 
and  lie  did  not  hesitate  to  ])r(iseiit  the  inipossihility  of 
coii(|U(;rin,L;-  tiiem.  "  AVliat  exi)ectatiou  or  ])robahility," 
lie  asks,  "  can  tliere  be  of  sending  from  lience  armies 
capahh'  to  contpier  and  subdue  so  great  a  force  of  men 
defending  and  def(!n(led  by  such  a  continent."  ^  Then, 
Mliihi  dej)i('ting  English  mastery  of  the  sea,  he  says: 
"We  may  do  whatever  a  licet  can.  Very  true;  but  it 
cannot  sail  all  over  North  ^Vmerica."^  The  prodiv^tions  of 
this  enlinht(3ned  author  cannot  have  been  without  effect. 
Doubtless  they  helped  the  final  acknowledgment  of 
indei)endence.  AVhen  will  the  "  Old  ^Mortality  "  appear 
to  discover  and  restore  his  monument  ? 

The  able  annotator  of  Lord  IJacon  was  too  sweeping 
when  he  said  that  on  the  gTcat  American  (juestion  all 
England  was  wrong  "except  one  man."^  liobinsonwas 
as  rigiit  as  the  Dean,  and  there  were  others  also.  The 
"  IMonthly  licview,"  in  an  article  on  the  Dean's  ajij^eal 
for  separation,  said :  ''  This,  however,  is  not  a  new  itlea. 
It  has  frequently  occurred  to  others."  *  Even  Soames 
Jenyns,  a  life-long  member  of  Parliament,  essayist,  poet, 
defender  of  Christianity,  while  upholding  the  right  to 
tax  the  Colonies,  is  said  to  have  accepted  the  idea  of 
"  total  separation." 

"  Let  all  who  view  th'  instructive  scene, 
And  piitronize  the  plan, 
Give  thanks  to  Gloucester's  honest  Dean, 
For,  Tucker,  thou  'rt  the  man."  5 

1  Considerations,  p.  06. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  72. 

3  Bacon's  Essays,  bj'  Whately,  p.  486. 

4  February,  1774,  Vol.  I.  p.  135. 

6  The  American  Coachman,  Jenyns's  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  205.    The  editor, 
not  regarding  this  little  poem  us  ti  jest,  says  of  it  :  "  The  author,  with  that 


iditor, 
li  that 


DEAN   TUCKER,    177-1. 


91 


I 


of 


In  a  better  spirit  urid  with  afrccting  eaniestiie.ss, 
Joliii  Cai'twri^ht,  once  of  the  lloyal  Navy  and  known 
as  Major  from  his  rank  in  the  XottinL;hanishire  ^Militia, 
f(jll()\ved  the  Dean,  in  1774,  \vith  a  series  of  letters  col- 
lected in  a  i)aniphlet  entitled  "American  Independence, 
the  Interest  and  Glory  of  Great  l»ritain,"  wiiere  he  insists 
upon  separation,  and  thenceforwai'd  a  iViendly  lea,L;ue, 
"  that  the  true  and  histinu'  welfare  of  both  countries  can 
be  promoted."  In  enforcing  his  conclusion  the  author 
says  :  "  When  we  talk  of  asserting  our  sovereignty  over 
the  Americans,  do  we  foresee  to  what  fatal  lengths  it  will 
carry  us  ?  Are  not  those  nations  increasing  witli  as- 
tonishing rapidity  ?  Muxt  then  not,  in  tlic  natnrr  of 
tJiiii(js,  cover  in  <(  /('(('  aijCH  t/uit  unincii.'>c  continent  liJx 
a  swarm  of  heen?"^  Then  again:  "We  may,  indeed, 
by  means  of  fleets  and  armies,  maintain  a  precarious 
tyranny  over  the  Americans  tor  a  wliile  ;  but  the  most 
shallow  politicians  nmst  foresee  what  this  would  end 
in."  2  Then  in  re])ly  to  the  Dean  :  "  'T  is  a  ])ity  so 
able  a  writer  had  not  discovered  that  the  Americans 
have  a  right  to  choose  their  own  governors,  and  thence 
enforce  the  necessity  of  his  pro])osed  sejiaration  as  a 
religious  duty,  no  less  than  a  measure  of  national  pol- 
icy." ^  Cartwright  continued  at  home  the  conilicts  of 
principle  involved  in  our  war  of  indei)endence,  and  be- 
came an  English  lieformer.     Honor  to  his  name ! 


1 1 


I 


conciseness  as  to  the  matter  and  luimor  in  tlie  manner  so  peculiiir  to  him- 
self, recommends  and  supports  the  Dean's  phui." 

1  Pape  65,  Letter  VI.,  Ahirch  27,  1774. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  66. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  68. 


V'  r 


lit 

Ik:-,    -. 


92 


rROPIIETIC    VOICES   CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


DAVID  HARTLEY,  1775,  1785. 

Anotiikr  Eii.L;lisli  iViund  wiis  David  Hartley.  He 
was  constant  and  uven  pcn'tinacioiis  on  our  side,  ul- 
tlioii;^h  less  pioj)lietic  than  Townall,  with  \vhoni  he 
coiipeiated  in  purpose  and  activity.  His  father  was 
Hartley  the  nietaijhysician,  and  autiior  of  the  ingenious 
theory  of  sensation,  who  ])redicted  the  fate  of  existing 
governments  and  hierarchies  in  two  sinijtle  sentences : 
"  It  is  proljal)le  tliat  all  the  civil  governments  will  he 
overturned";  "it  is  })robal»lc  that  the  present  forms 
of  church  government  will  be  dissolved,"  jNIany  Avere 
alarmed.  Lady  Cliariotte  Wentworth  asked  the  prophet 
when  these  terrible  things  would  lia})peri.  The  answer 
was :  "  I  am  an  old  man,  and  shall  not  live  to  see 
them ;  but  you  are  a  young  woman,  and  will  probably 
see  them."  ^ 

The  son  was  born  in  1720,  and  died  at  Bath  in  1813. 
During  our  lievolution  he  sat  in  rarliament  lor  Kings- 
ton-u])on-Hull.  He  was  also  the  Ih-itisli  plenipoten- 
tiary in  negotiating  the  definitive  Treaty  of  Peace  with 
the  United  States.  He  has  droj)ped  out  of  sight. 
The  biographical  dictionaries  afford  him  a  few  lines 
only.  But  he  deserves  a  considerable  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  independence. 

John  Adams  was  often  austere,  and  sometimes  cyni- 
cal in  his  judgments.  Evidently  he  did  not  like 
Hartley.  In  one  place  he  speaks  of  him  as  "  talkative 
and  disputatious,  and  not  always  intellig:'il)le  "  ;  '^  then, 
as  "  a  person  of  consummate  vanity  "  ;  ^  and  then,  when 

1  D'Israpli's  Curiosities  of  Literature,  Vol.  III.  p.  275.     Predictions. 

2  Works,  Vol.  LX.  p.  517. 
8  Ibid.,  Vol.  III.  p.  137. 


DAVID   lIAliTLEY,   1775. 


93 


< 


nppointed  to  sign  the  definitive  Treaty,  "  it  would  have 
heeii  more  agreeal)le  to  have  liuished  with  ]Mr.  Os- 
wald" ;^  and,  in  still  anotlier  place,  "  ]\Ir.  Hartley  was 
as  copious  as  usual."  '^  And  yet,  when  writing'  most 
elaborately  to  Cinint  de  Yergennes  on  tlie  prospects  of 
tlie  negotiation  with  England,  he  introduces  opiuK^ns  of 
Hartley  at  length,  saying  tiiat  he  was  "  more  I'or  peace 
tlian  any  man  in  tlie  kingdom."*^  Such  testimony  may 
well  outweigli  the  other  expressions,  esi)ecially  as 
notliing  of  the  kind  iii)pears  in  the  corresponilence  of 
Franklin,  witli  whom  Hartley  was  much  more  intimate. 
The  Parliamentary  History  is  a  sullicient  monument 
for  Hartley.  He  was  a  fre([uent  s])eaker,  and  never 
missed  an  opportunity  of  pleading  our  cause.  Altliougli 
■without  the  immortal  elociuence  of  Burke,  he  was  al- 
ways clear  and  full.  Many  of  his  speeches  seem  writ- 
ten out  l)y  himself.  He  was  not  a  tardy  convert,  but 
began  as  "a  new  member"  by  sup})orting  an  amend- 
ment iavorable  to  the  Colonies,  otli  Decendjer,  1774. 
Then,  in  ^March,  1775,  he  brought  I'orward  "  propositions 
for  conciliation  with  America,"  which  he  sustained  in 
an  elaborate  speech,  where  he  avowed  that  the  xVmer- 
ican  Question  had  occupied  him  for  some  time  :  — 

"Though  I  have  so  lately  had  the  honor  of  a  sent  in  this 
House,  yet  I  have  for  many  years  turned  my  thoughts  and 
attention  to  matters  of  pul)lic  concern  and  national  policy. 
This  question  of  America  is  now  of  many  years'  standing."  * 

In  this  speech  he  acknowledges  the  services  of  New 
England  at  Louisburs,' :  — 


1  Works,  Vol.  VII.  p.  54. 

2  II)i(l.,  Vol.  III.  p.  .m. 
8  Ibid.,  Vol.  VII.  p  226. 

4  rurliamcntiiry  History.  Vol.  XVIII.  p.  553. 


\ 


4i 


'■W 


94 


rUOPIIETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


I 


"111  tliiit  war  too,  sir,  they  took  Louisbur^'  from  the  French, 
single-haiKU'd,  without  iiiiy  Kuroi)ean  assistance,  —  as  met- 
tled an  enterprise  as  any  in  our  liist<jry,  —  an  everhistiii«,' 
memorial  of  the  zeal,  courage,  and  perseverance  of  tlu;  trooj)s 
of  New  Kngland.  The  men  themselves  drag^'ed  the  cannon 
over  a  morass  which  ha<l  always  heeii  thought  impassable, 
where  neither  horses  nor  oxen  could  go,  and  they  carried 
the  shot  upon  their  hacks.  And  what  was  their  reward  for 
this  forward  and  s})irited  enterprise,  —  for  the  reduction  of 
this  American  Dunkirk  ^  Their  reward,  sir,  you  know  v>.ry 
well ;  it  was  given  up  for  a  barrier  to  the  Dutch."  ^ 

All  his  various  propositions  were  iicgutivod ;  but  he 
was  not  disheartened.  Constantly  he  s[)oke,  —  now  on 
the  budget,  then  on  the  address,  and  then  on  sjieeific  proj)- 
ositions.  At  this  time  he  asserted  the  ])ower  of  Parlia- 
ment over  the  Colonies,  and  he  ])roi)osed,  on  the  2d 
Xovember,  ITTo,  that  a  test  of  sul)niis.sion  by  the  Colo- 
nists should  be  the  recognition  of  an  act  of  Parliament 
"  enacting  that  all  the  slaves  in  America  should  have  the 
trial  by  jury."  ^  Shortly  afterwards,  on  the  otli  ])ecem- 
ber,  177o,  he  brought  forward  a  second  set  of  "  proposi- 
tions for  conciliation  with  America,"  where,  among  other 
things,  he  embodied  the  test  on  slavery,  which  he  put  for- 
ward as  a  com])romise ;  and  here  his  language  belongs, 
not  only  to  the  history  of  our  Pevolution,  but  to  the 
history  of  antislavery.  While  declaring  that  in  his 
opinion  Great  r>ritain  was  "the  aggressor  in  everything," 
he  sought  to  bring  the  two  countries  together  on  a  plat- 
form of  human  rights,  which  he  thus  explained  :  — 

"  "^he  act  to  be  proposed  to  America,  as  an  auspicious 
hefjinniiu/  to  lay  the  Jirst  stone  of  universal  liberty  to  mankind, 

1  Parliamcntavy  History,  Vol.  XVIII.  p.  556. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  846. 


DAVID   IIAKTLEV,    1775. 


95 


should  1)0  wlmt  no  Ainerieiiu  could  hcsitiito  an  instant  to 
comply  with,  nanu-ly,  that  every  slave  in  Noi-th  America 
nhould  be  entitled  to  his  trial  l)V  iurv  in  all  criminal  cases. 
America  cannot  refuse  to  accept  and  em'oll  siu.-h  an  act  as 
this,  and  thereby  to  reestablish  peace  and  harmony  with 
the  })arent  State.  Let  tin  all  be  reunited  in  (his,  as  <i  j'oiniihi- 
tioii.  to  extirpate  .shiver//  from  the  face  nf  the  earth.  L<f  those 
v'ho  seek  Jtistiee  ami  liht-rfi/for  themselvrs  /jive  that  Jnstiee  ((nd 
liUcrtij  to  their  f el  low-creatures.  With  respect  to  j)utting  a 
linal  period  to  slavery  in  North  America,  it  should  seem 
best  that,  when  this  country  had  led  the  way  by  the  act 
for  jury,  each  Colony,  knowing  their  own  peculiar  circum- 
stances, should  undertake  the  work  in  the  most  ])ractical)lo 
way,  Ri.d  that  they  should  endeavor  to  estal)lish  some  sys- 
tem by  which  slaverv  should  be  in  a  certain  term  of  vears 
abolished.  Let  the  onlij  contention  heiie( forward  between 
Great  Britain  and  America  he,  vhirh  shall  e.turrd  the  other  in 
Zeal  fa-  estahlishiny  the  fundainental  rights  of  lUx  rtt/  fa'  all 


mail 


kind. 


"  1 


How  grand  and  beantiful,  not  to  bo  road  without 
gratitude  !  The  motion  was  rojoctod  ;  but  among  the 
twenty-throe  in  its  favor  were  Fox  and  Burke.  During 
this  same  month  the  nnwo.iried  defender  of  onr  oonntry 
came  forward  again,  declaring  that  lie  could  not  be  "  an 
adviser  or  a  well-wisher  to  any  of  the  vindictive  opera- 
tions against  America,  because  the  cause  is  unjust ;  Init 
at  the  same  time  he  must  be  equally  earnest  to  secure 
British  interests  from  destruction,"  and  he  thus  prophe- 
sies :  — 

"  The  fate  of  America  is  cast.  Yon  may  bruise  its  heel, 
but  you  cannot  crush  its  head.  It  will  revive  again.  The 
neiv  world  is  before  them.     Liberty  is  theirs.     They  have  pos- 

1  Parliamentary  History,  Vol.  XVIII.  p.  1050. 


w 


UO 


rilorilHTIO  VOICKS  conckuning  amkkica. 


I- 


session  of  a  free  governinciit,  tlieir  birthright  and  inhrrlt- 
anco,  derived  to  tlieni  from  their  parent  state,  which  the 
hand  of  violence  cannot  wrest  from  them.  If  you  will  cast 
them  otf,  my  last  wish  is  to  them,  May  they  go  and  pros- 


per 


I" 


A,i,Miii,  oil  the  loth  May,  1770,  ho  vindic^ated  anew 
his  original  ])ro|)()siti()n,  and  horu  again  he  testilies  for 
])('a(',(!  and  against  slavery. 

"  For  the  sake  of  peace,  thci'cfore,  I  did  propose  a  test  of 
compromise  hy  an  act  of  acceptance,  on  the  part  of  the 
Colonists,  of  an  a(;t  of  Parliament  which  should  lay  t/ie 
foiiiiilatioii  for  the  rxtirjxidoii  of  the  horrid  custom  of  ddverif 
hi  the  Xvw  World.  My  motion  was  simply  an  act  of  eom- 
I^romise  and  reconciliiition  ;  and,  as  far  as  it  was  a  le>;isla- 
tive  act,  it  was  still  to  liave  been  !ij)plied  in  correcting  the 
laws  of  slavery  in  America,  which  1  considered  as  re|iu^nant 
to  the  laws  of  the  realm  of  England  and  to  the  fundamen- 
tals of  our  constitution.  .Such  a  compromise  would  at  the 
same  time  have  saved  the  national  honor."  ^ 

All  gratitude  to  the  hero  who  at  this  early  day 
vowed  himself  to  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Hartley  is 
among  the  first  of  abolitionists,  with  hardly  a  prculeees- 
sor  except  Granville  Sharp,  and  in  Parliament  absolute- 
ly the  first.  Clarksoii  was  at  this  time  fifteen  years  old, 
AVilberforce  sixteen.  O^ily  in  1787  Clarkson  obtained 
the  prize  for  the  best  Latin  essay  on  the  (|U('stion,  "  Is 
it  right  to  make  men  slaves  against  their  will?"  It 
was  not  until  1791  that  AVilberforce  moved  for  leave  to 
bring  in  a  bill  for  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade.  It 
is  no  small  honor  for  one  man  to  have  come  forward  in 

1  Purlifiinentary  History,  Vol.  XVIII.  p.  1356. 


DAVID    HAUTLKY,    17T:.. 


07 


I'arliiUiuMit  ns  an  avowtnl  iil)(>liti<)ni.st,  wluli!  at  tliu  siiino 
t'liK!  ii  viiulit'uLor  of  our  indciK'ndciicf. 

Aj^aiii,  on  tlic  loth  May,  1777,  ilurtloy  pliiiuluil  loi- 
ns :  — 

"  At  Hi.'ii,  wliich  1ms  liitluM-to  Ih'cm  our  prerojjjiitivo  olo- 
MU'ut,  tlicy  rise  ii<jjiiinst  us  at  ii  stupuudous  nito ;  and  if  wo 
c'uuuut  ivturu  to  our  old  mutual  linspitalitios  towards  each 
(tther,  a  very  Irw  years  will  sliow  us  a  most  f'oruiidahlo  hos- 
tile mai'iue,  ready  to  join  hands  with  any  of  our  enemies. 
....  1  will  venture  to  prophesy  that  the  princi[)les  of  a 
federal  alliance  are  the  ouly  terms  of  peace  that  ever  will 
and  that  ever  onj^ht  to  obtain  between  the  two  countries.'  ^ 


r 


On  the  loth  of  Juiu*,  iinmediatoly  afterwards,  the 
I'arliainentary  History  rei)ort3  brietly:- 

"  Mr.  Hartley  wont  upon  the  erueltios  f  slavery,  and 
ur;4ed  the  Hoard  of  Trade  to  take  some  mean  ^  of  mitiyatin;if 
it.  He  ])roduced  a  ])air  of  handeuffs,  which  ho  said  was  a 
luanufacturo  they  were  now  goinjjf  to  establish.'"'^ 

Thus  attain  the  alxditionist  reappeared  in  the  vindi- 
cator of  our  independence.  On  the  22d  June,  1770,  he 
brought  forward  another  formal  motion  "  for  reconcilia- 
tion with  America,"  and,  in  the  course;  of  a  well-consid- 
ered speech,  denounced  the  ministers  for  "headstrong 
and  inflexible  obstinacy  in  prosecuting  a  cruel  and 
destructive  American  M'ar."  ^  On  the  3d  December, 
1770,  in  \vhat  is  called  "a  very  long  speech,"  he  re- 
tm'ned  to  his  theme,  inveighing  against  ministers  for 
"  the  favorite,  though  wild,  (Quixotic,  and  impracticable 

1  riirliixmentarv  HUtorv,  V(j1.  XIX.  pp.  259,  2G0. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  315.' 
8  Ibid.,  p.  904. 

5  O 


08 


rilorilKTlC  VOICES  conceuning  ameuica. 


if      ! 


lljl 


:l    'M 


1  f 


measure  of  coercing  America."  ^  These  are  only  in- 
stances. 

During  tliis  time  he  maintained  relations  witli 
Franivlin,  as  api)ears  in  the  "  Diplomatic  CorresjKjnd- 
ence  of  the  devolution,"  all  of  which  attests  a  desire  for 
peace.  Jn  1778  he  arrived  at  Paris  on  a  confidential 
errand,  especially  to  confer  with  Fninklin.  On  this 
occasion  John  Adams  met  him  and  jud^^ed  him  severe- 
ly. In  1783  he  was  ai)pointed  a  commissioner  to  sign 
the  definitive  Treaty  of  Teace. 

Tliese  things  belong  to  history.  Though  perhaps 
not  generally  known,  they  are  accessible.  I  have  pre- 
sented them  tor  their  intrinsic  value  and  proi)hetic 
character,  but  also  as  the  introduction  to  an  unpub- 
lished letter  from  Hartley,  which  I  received  some  time 
ago  from  an  English  friend  who  has  since  been  called 
a'\vay  from  important  lal)ors.  The  letter  concerns  crni- 
gration  to  our  countrij  and  the  payment  of  the  national 
dcht. 

The  following  indorsement  explains  its  character:  — 

"  Note.  This  is  a  copy  of  the  material  portion  of  .i  long 
letter 'from  D.  Hartley,  the  British  Commissioner  in  Paris, 
to  Lord  Sj'denham,  Junuiiiy,  1 785.  The  original  was  sold 
by  C.  Robinson,  of  21  P)ond  Street,  London,  on  the  Gth 
April,  1859,  at  a  sale  of  Hartley's  MSS.  and  papers  chiefly 
relating  to  the  United  States  of  America.  It  was  Hartley's 
co[)y,  in  his  own  hand. 

"  The  lot  was  No.  82  in  the  sale  catalogue.  It  was 
bought  by  J.  11.  Smith,  the  London  bookseller,  for  £2  G*'. 
Od. 

*'  I  had  a  co[)y  made  before  the  sale. 

"  Joseph  Parlces. 
"  London,  18  July,  'o9." 

1  Parliamentary  History,  Vol.  XIX.  p.  1190. 


DAVID   HARTLEY,    1785. 


99 


The  letter  is  as  follows  :  — 


"My  Loud,  —  In  your  Lonlsliip's  List  letter  to  nie,  just 
before  my  leiivinji;  Paris,  you  are  plctised  to  say  that  any 
information  which  1  mii^'lit  have  been  able  to  coUei't  of  a 
nature  to  promote  the  nnitual  and  reciprocal  interests  of 
(Jreat  l{)-itain  and  the  I'nited  States  of  America  would  be 

extremely   acceptable    to   his  Majesty's  government 

Annexed  to  tiiis  letter  I  have  the  honor  of  transmittinij:  to 
your  Lordship  some  papers  and  documents  which  I  have 
received  from  the  American  Ministers.  One  of  them  (No. 
T))  is  a  Map  of  the  Continent  of  North  America,  in  which 
the  land  ceded  to  them  by  the  late  treaty  of  peace  is  divided, 
by  parallels  of  latitude  and  longitude,  into  fourteen  yew 
States. 

"  The  whole  project,  in  its  fill  extent,  would  take  many 
years  in  its  execution,  and  therefore  it  must  be  far  beyond 
the  present  race  of  men  to  say,  '  This  shall  l)c  so.'  Never- 
theless, those  who  have  the  first  care  of  this  Xnv  World  iri/l 
prolnihh/.  i/i.ve  it  such  directions  and  inherent  infinences  as  i-vaj 
cjnide  and.  control  its  course  and  revolutions  for  a<fes  to  come. 
But  these  i)lans,  being  beyond  the  reach  of  man  to  predesti- 
nate, are  likewise  bej'ond  the  reach  of  comment  or  specula- 
tion to  say  what  may  or  may  not  be  possible,  or  to  predict 
what  events  may  hereafter  be  produced  by  time,  climates, 
soils,  adjoining  nations,  or  by  the  nnwi(>ldy  magnitude  of 
empire,  and  the  future  pojmbdion  of  millions  superadded  to 
millions.  The  sources  of  the  Mississippi  may  be  unknown. 
The  lines  of  longitude  and  latitude  mav  be  extended  into 
unexplored  regions,  and  the  ])lan  of  this  new  creation  may 
be  sketched  out  by  a  presum])tuous  compass,  if  all  its  inter- 
mediate uses  and  functions  were  to  be  suspended  until  the 
final  and  precise  accomplishment,  without  failure  or  devia- 
tion, of  this  unbounded  plan.  But  this  is  not  the  case  ;  the 
immediate  objects  iu  view  are  limited  and  precise  ;  they  are 


.  I 

r  ; 

m 


t 


«if 


m 


100 


rROPlIETlC   VOICES   CONCEPNING  AMERICA. 


>»  It 


of  prudent  thonglit,  and  within  the  scope  of  human  power 
to  measure  out  and  to  execute.  The  principle  indeed  is  in- 
definite, and  will  he  left  to  the  test  of  future  ages  to  deter- 
mine its  duration  or  extent. 

"  I  take  the  liherty  to  suggest  thus  ranch,  lest  we  should 
he  led  away  to  suppose  that  the  councils  which  have  pro- 
duced these  ])lans  have  had  no  wiser  or  more  sedate  views 
than  meiely  tiie  amusement  of  drawing  meridians  of  amln- 
tion  and  high  thoughts,  There  aj)pear  to  me  to  he  two 
solid  and  rational  objects  in  view  :  the  first  is,  Ijy  the  sale 
of  lands  nearly  contiguous  to  the  present  States  (receiving- 
Congress  paper  in  payment  according  to  its  scale  of  depreci- 
ation) to  crtin'/idsh  the  present  national  debt,  which  I  under- 
stand might  be  discharged  for  about  twelve  millions  ster- 
ling  


"  It  is  a  new  proposition  to  be  offered  to  the  numerous 
common  rank  of  mankind  in  all  the  countries  of  the  world, 
to  say  that  there  are  in  America  fertile  soils  and  temperate 
climates  in  which  an  acre  of  land  may  be  purchased  for  a 
trifling  consideration,  which  may  be  possessed  in  freedom, 
together  with  all  the  natural  and  civil  rights  of  mankind. 
The  Congress  have  already  proclaimed  this,  and  that  no 
other  qualification  or  name  is  necessary  but  to  become 
settlers,  without  distinction  of  countries  or  persons.  The 
European  peasant,  who  toils  for  his  scanty  sustenance  in 
penury,  wretchedness,  and  servitude,  will  eagerly  fly  to  this 
asyluni  for  free  and  industrious  labor.  The  tide  of  immi- 
gration may  set  strongly  outward  from  Scotland,  Ireland, 
and  Canada  to  this  new  land  of  promise. 

**  A  very  great  proportion  of  men  in  all  the  countries  of 
the  world  are  Mithout  pro])erty,  and  generally  are  subject 
to  governments  of  which  they  have  no  participation,  and 
over  whom  they  have  no  control.  The  Congress  have  now 
'pened  to  all  the  world  a  sale  of  landed  settlements  where 
the  liberty  and  property  of  each  individual  is  to  be  con- 


DAVID   IIAUTLEY,    1785. 


101 


signed  to  his  own  custody  and  defence These  are  such 

propositions  of  free  establishments  as  ha\'e  never  yet  been 
offered  to  mankind,  and  cannot  fail  of  producing  great  ef- 
fects in  tlic  future  progress  of  things.  The  Congi-ess  have 
arranged  their  offers  in  the  most  inviting  and  artful  terms, 
and  lest  individual  peasants  and  laboi-ers  should  not  have 
the  means  of  removing  themselves,  they  throw  Mut  induce- 
ments to  moneyed  adventurers  to  purchase  and  to  under- 
take the  settlement  by  connnission  and  agency,  without 
personal  residence,  by  stipidating  that  the  lands  of  pro- 
prietors being  abs(!ntees  shall  not  be  higher  taxed  than  the 
lands  of  residents.  This  will  quicken  the  sale  of  lands, 
which  is  their  object. 

"  For  the  explanation  of  these  points,  I  beg  leave  to  refer 
your  Lordship  to  the  documents  annexed,  Nos.  5  and  (>, 
namely,  the  Map  and  liesolutions  of  C'onuress,  dated  Aj)ril, 
1784.  Another  circumstance  would  conlirm  that  it  is  the 
intention  of  Conj^ress  to  invite  monevcd  adventurers  to  make 
purchases  and  settlements,  which  is  the  precise  and  mathe- 
matical mode  of  dividing  and  marking  out  for  sale  the  lands 
in  each  new  proposed  State.  These  new  States  are  to  be 
divided  by  parallel  lines  running  north  and  south,  and  by 
other  parallels  running  east  and  west.  They  are  to  bo 
divided  into  hundreds  of  ten  geographical  miles  scpiare, 
and  then  again  into  lots  of  one  s(piare  mile.  The  divisions 
are  laid  out  as  regularly  as  the  squares  upon  a  chessboard, 
and  all  to  be  formed  into  a  Charter  of  (Jompact. 

"  They  may  be  purchased  by  purchasers  at  any  distance, 
and  the  titles  may  be  verified  by  registc-s  of  such  or  such 
numbers,  north  or  south,  east  or  west  ;  all  this  is  explained 
by  the  document  annexed,  No.  7,  viz.  The  Ordinaiice  for 
ascerUtinivg  the  moJe  of  InnUiuff  and  dispoaui;/  of  lands  in 
t\e  Western  Territovj/.  This  is  their  plan  and  means  for 
payinfi  of  their  national  debt,  and  they  seem  veri/  intent 
vjiun  doinrj  it.     I   shor.ld  observe  that  their  debt  consists 


K 


M 


102 


I'UOI'IIKTIC   VOICES   CONCERNING  AMEUICA. 


rift' 


11 


I-  ,'•  •  •' 


of  two  parts,  uiimely,  doinestic  and   foreign.     The  sale  of 
lands  is  to  bo  ai)[)n>priated  to  the  foniier. 

•"The  doniostic  debt  may  perhaps  be  nine  or  ten  millions, 
and  the  forei.^n  debt  two  or  three.  For  payment  of  the 
foreign  debt  it  is  proposed  to  lay  a  tax  of  live  per  cent 
npon  all  imports  nntil  diseharged,  which,  1  am  informed, 
has  already  been  agreed  to  by  most  of  the  States,  and 
l)rob!d»ly  will  soon  be  eontirmed  by  the  rest.  Upon  the 
whole,  it  appears  that  this  plan  is  as  prudently  conceived 
and  as  judiciously  arranged,  as  to  the  end  proposed,  as 
any  ex})erienccd  cabinet  of  European  ministers  could  have 
devised  or  })lanned  any  similar  project. 

"  'J'he  second  point  which  ai)pears  to  mc  to  be  deserving 
of  attention,  resi)ecting  the  innnense  cession  of  territory  to 
the  United  States  at  the  late  peace,  is  a  point  which  will 
perh(ii)S  ill  a  few  jjears  become  an  inqxtndUled  phenomenon 
in  the  political  world.  As  soon  as  the  national  debt  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  discharged  by  the  sale  of  one  portion 
of  those  lands,  we  shall  then  see  the  Confederate  llepublic 
in  a  new  character,  as  a  proprietor  of  lands,  either  for  sale 
or  to  let  upon  rents,  while  other  nations  may  be  struggling 
under  debts  too  enormous  to  be  discharged  either  by  econ- 
omy or  taxation,  and  while  they  may  be  laboring  to  raise 
ordinary  and  necessary  supplies  by  burdensome  impositions 
upon  their  own  i)ersous  and  properties.  Here  will  he  a 
nation  possessed  of  a  neiv  and  iinlteard-of  financial  organ  of 
stupendous  ma<jnitude,  and  in  process  of  time  of  unmeasured 
value,  thrown  into  their  lap  as  a,  fortuitous  superfiuity,  and 
almost  without  heiny  sought  for. 

"  When  such  an  organ  of  revenue  begins  to  arise  into 
produce  and  exertion,  what  public  uses  it  may  be  appli- 
cable to,  or  to  what  abuses  and  perversions  it  might  be 
rendered  subservient,  is  far  beyond  the  reach  of  probable 
discussion  now.  Such  discussions  would  only  be  visionary 
spcculat.  oUkI.     However,  thus  ftir  it  is  obvious  and  highly 


i 


GALIANI,    1770. 


1U3 


deserving  of  our  attention  that  it  cannot  fail  beconii.ig  to 
the  American  States  a  most  important  instrument  of 
national  power,  the  progress  and  operation  (jf  whicii  nmst 
liereafter  be  a  most  iiit( nstiiKj  uhjcd  oj  atUntioa  to  the  lintisk 
American  (/oiulnio/is  (I'liidi  are  in,  dose  vicinit//  to  the  terri- 
tories of  the  Lnited  /.'States,  and  I  should  hope  th((t  these 
considerations  would  bail  ns,  inasmnck  as  we  value  those 
parts  of  our  <loini/ii(jii'<,  to  encoaraije  conciliator//  and  ami- 
cable corresjjondencc  between  them  and  their  neijhburs.^^ 

This  private  coinnuniication,  now  for  tliu  lirst  time 
seeing  the  light,  is  i'uU  of  proi)]ie('y,  or  of  that  remark- 
able dis  ernnient  and  forecast  which  mark  tlie  ])roi)hetic 
si)irit,  Avliether  in  announcing  "tlie  future  population 
of  millions  superadded  to  millions,"  oi  in  the  high  esti- 
mate of  the  National  Territory,  destined  to  become  in  a 
few  years  "an  unparalleled  i)hen()menon  in  tlie  jxditical 
world,"  —  "  a  new  and  unheard-of  y/'/rozr/«/  orfian  of  stu- 
])endous  magnitude."  How  few  at  home  saw  the  Public 
Lauds  with  as  clear  a  vision  as  Hartley  ! 


i 


'i 


I 


l« 


GAUAXT,   1776,  1778. 

Amoxg  the  most  hrilliant  in  this  extending  list  is 
the  Abbe  Oaliani,  the  Xeapolitan,  who  was  born  1728, 
and  died  at  Xa])les  1787.  Altliough  Italian  by  birth, 
yet  by  the  accident  of  ollicial  residence  he  became  for 
a  while  domesticated  in  France,  wrote  the  French 
language,  and  now  enjoys  a  French  reputation.  His 
writings  in  French  and  his  letters  have  the  wit  and 
ease  of  Voltaire. 

Galiani  was  a  genius.  AVhatever  he  touched  .shone 
at  once  with  his  brightness,  in  which  there  was  origi- 
nality  as  well  as  knowledge.     He  was  a  finished  scholar, 


I 


104 


PUOPIIKTIC   VOICES   CONCEISNING   AMKUICA. 


I,    In 


ii*' 

4 

1 

■1 

I 

'    '1 

'.a 

1 

1 

and  very  successful  in  lai)idaiy  verses.  Eurly  in  life, 
while  in  Italy,  he  wrote  u  grave  essay  on  Money,  wliich 
contrasted  with  anotlier  of  rare  hunior  su^igested  by 
the  death  of  the  puljlic  executioner.  Other  essays 
followed,  and  then  came  the  favor  of  tl'O  congenial 
pontiff,  iJeneJict  XIV.  In  IVGU  he  found  himself  at 
I'aris  as  Secretary  of  the  Neapolitan  Embassy.  ^lin- 
gling  with  courtiers  ollicially,  according  to  the  duties 
of  his  position,  he  fraternized  with  the  liberal  and 
adventurous  spirits  who  exercised  such  influence  over 
S(jciety  and  literature.  He  \\as  recognized  as  one  of 
them,  and  inferior  to  none.  His  jietty  stature  was  for- 
gotten, when  he  conversed  with  inexhaustible  faculties 
of  all  kinds,  so  that  he  seemed  an  Encyclopiedia,  Harle- 
quin, and  Machiavelli  all  in  one.  The  atheists  at  the 
Thursday  dinner  of  D'Holbach  were  confounded,  while 
he  enforced  the  existence  gf  '^»od.  Into  the  (questions 
of  political  economy  occu}»ying  attention  at  the  time 
he  entered  with  a  pen  which  seemed  borrowed  from 
the  Erench  Academy.  His  Dialogues  sur  Ic  Commerce 
(Ics  BU'h  had  the  success  of  a  roii.ince ;  ladies  carried 
this  book  on  corn  in  their  work-baskets.  Keturning  to 
Naples,  he  continued  to  live  in  Paris  through  his  corre- 
s])ondence,  especially  with  Mtidame  d'Epinay,  the  Baron 
d'llolbacl:,  Diderot,  and  Grimm.^ 

Among  later  works,  after  his  return  to  Naples,  was 
a  solid  volume  —  not  to  be  forgotten  in  the  History 
of  International  Law  —  on  the  "liights  of  Neutrals," 
where  a  difficult  subject  is  treated  with  such  mastery 
that,  half  a  century  later,  D'Hautefeuille,  in  his  elabo- 
rate treatise,  copies  from  it  at  length.     Galiani  was  the 

1  Riojrnipliie  T'iiivor«ellc  of  ^lichaud;  also  of  Didot;  Louis  Bkinc,  His- 
toire  de  la  Revolution  Friui^aise,  Toin.  I.  pp.  390,  545  -  551. 


CALIANI,    I77G. 


105 


predet-essoi:  of  this  Froiicli  writer  in  tlio  extivniL'  fissor- 
tion  of  neutral  rights.  Otliur  works  were  left  iit  his 
death  in  niriniiscri[)t,  some  ^ruve  and  some  humorous; 
also  letters  without  nund)er.  The  letters  preserved 
from  Italian  sartna^  filled  eight  large  volumes;  those 
from  sanDis,  ministers,  and  sovereigns  al)roacl  tilled  four- 
teen. His  Parisian  eorrespondenee  did  Udt  see  the  light 
till  IHIS,  although  some  of  the  letters  may  be  found 
in  the  eontemporary  correspondence  of  (Irinnu. 

In  his  Parisian  letters,  which  are  addressed  chiefly 
to  that  clever  individuality,  ]\Iadame  d'Ki)inay,  the 
Xeapolitan  abbe  shows  not  only  the  brilliancy  and 
niml)leness  of  his  talent,  but  the  universality  of  his 
knowledge  aud  the  boldness  of  his  speculatious.  Here 
are  a  few  words  from  a  letter  dated  at  Xa])les,  llHh 
October,  1770,  in  which  he  l)rings  forward  the  idea  of 
"races,"  so  important  in  our  day,  with  an  illustration 
from  liussia :  — 

"  A/l  depends  on  races.  The  first,  tlio  most  noblo  of 
races,  comes  nutundlv  from  the  North  of  Asia.  The  Rus- 
sians  are  the  nearest  to  it,  and  tliis  is  the  reason  why 
they  have  made  more  progress  in  fifty  yeurs  than  can  be 
got  out  of  the  Portuguese  in  five  hundred."  ^ 

Belonging  to  the  Latin  race,  Galiani  was  entitled  to 
speak  thus  freely. 

In  another  letter  to  ^Madame  d'ltpinay,  dated  at 
Naples,  IStli  ]May,  177G,  he  had  already  i'oretold  the 
success  of  our  I  {evolution.  Few  prophets  have  been 
more  explicit  than  lie  was  in  the  followiug  passage:  — 

"  Livy  said  of  his  age,  which  so  much  resembled  ours, 
*  Ad  ha!C  tempora  veutuni  est  quibus,  nee  vitia  nostra,  nee 

1  Correspondance,  Tom.  II.  p.  221.     See  also  Grimm,  Correspondance, 
Tom.  IX.  p.  282. 

5* 


•  .. , 


ti 


it 


"  ^'    ii 


lOG 


rilOrilKTIC   VOICES   concerning   AMERICA. 


remcdin  piiti  possumuH,'  —  'Wo  iiro  in  ftii  ago  wlioro  tho 
reniL'tlics  hurt  us  iimch  as  the  vices.'  Do  you  know  the 
roulity  I  The  cporh  han  come  of  the  totnl  full  of  Kiivope, 
aud  of  trdiixmij/nttlon  into  Amerlai.  All  liuro  turns  into 
rottonnoss, — religion,  laws,  iirts,  sciences,  —  and  all  has- 
tens to  renew  itself  in  America,  'i'his  is  not  a  jest ;  nor 
is  it  an  idea  drawn  from  tho  English  (piarrels ;  I  have 
said  it,  aimounced  it,  ])reached  it,  for  more  than  twenty 
years,  and  1  have  constantly  seen  my  jjrophecies  come  to 
pass.  Therefore,  do  not  bmj  your  hon.se  in  the  Vhauasee 
d'Aiitiii  ;  yoti  inuKt  haif  it  in  I'hihidelphia.  My  trouble  is 
that  there  are  no  abbeys  in  America."^ 

This  lc3ttur  was  written  soiiio  months  before  tiie 
Detdaration  of  Independence  was  known  in  Enrope. 

In  another,  dated  at  Naples,  7th  February,  1778, 
the  Abbe  alludes  to  the  "  (quantities  "  of  English  men 
and  women  wdio  have  come  to  Xajdes  "  for  shelter 
from  the  American  tempest,"  and  adds,  "Meanwhile 
the  AVashingtons  and  Hancocks  will  be  fatal  to  them."^ 
In  still  another,  dated  at  Naples,  25th  July,  1778,  he  re- 
news his  proidiecies  in  language  still  more  explicit :  — 

"You  will  at  this  time  have  decided  the  greatest  revo- 
lution of  the  globe;  namely,  if  it  is  America  which  is  to 
reign  over  Europe,  or  if  it  is  Europe  vrhich  is  to  continue 
to  reiijn  over  America.  I  will  wager  iu  favor  of  America, 
for  the  reason  merely  ])hysical,  that  for  five  thousand  years 
genius  has  turned  o])positc  to  the  diurnal  motion,  and  trav- 
elled from  the  East  to  tho  West."" 

Here  again  is  the  idea  of  Berkeley  which  has  been 
so  captivating. 

1  Correspondanco,  Tom.  11.  p.  203 ;  Grimm,  Tom.  IX.  p.  285. 

2  Correspondaiioo,  Tom.  II.  p.  275. 
8  Ibid.,  Tom.  II.  p.  275. 


ADAM   SMITH,    177G. 


107 


ni 


ADAM  SMITH,    1776. 

In  contrast  witli  the  witty  Italiun  is  the  illustrious 
pliilosoplirr  and  writer  of  Sijotland,  Adam  SniiLli,  who 
was  lM)ru  otii  -luni',  IT-i:*),  and  diod  ITtli  duly,  17*H). 
His  I'aniu  is  so  connuandin^i;  that  any  di'tails  (if  life  or 
works  would  Ik?  out  of  place.  He  was  thinker  and 
inventor,  through  whom  iii  .nkind  was  advanced  in 
knowhMlge. 

I  say  nothing  of  his  "Theory  of  IMoral  Sentiments," 
constituting  an  imi)ortant  contriltution  to  the  science 
of  ethics,  but  come  at  once  to  his  great  work  of  politi- 
cal economy,  entitkHl  "  hupury  into  the  Nature  and 
Sources  of  the  AVealth  of  Nations,"  which  iirst  aj)peared 
in  177().  Its  jtublication  marks  an  epoch  described  by 
Mr.  ]>uckle  when  he  says:^  "Adam  Smith  contributed 
more,  by  the  jiublication  of  this  single  work,  towai'd 
the  hap})ine.ss  of  man,  tlian  has  been  effected  by  the 
united  al)ilities  of  all  the  statesmen  and  legislators  of 
whom  history  has  preserved  an  authentic  account." 
The  work  is  full  of  pro])hetic  knowledge,  and  especially 
with  regard  to  the  lUitish  colonies.  "Writing  while 
the  debate  with  tlie  mother  country  was  still  ])ending, 
Adam  Smith  urged  that  they  should  be  admitted  to 
l*arliamentary  representation  in  ])ro])ortion  to  taxation, 
so  that  their  representation  would  enlarge  with  their 
growing  resources ;  and  here  lie  i)redicts  nothing  less 
than  the  transfer  of  empire. 


"  The  distance  of  America  from  the  seat  of  government, 
the  natives  of  that  country  might  flatter  themselves,  with 
some  appearance  of  reason  t<jo,  would  not  be  of  very  long 

1  History  of  Civilization  in  England,  Vol.  I.  p.  216. 


r.  Q.t 


108       nioriiKTKJ  voici:s  con'okiinlnt,  America. 

coiitinuiincc.  Siidi  Ims  hitherto  been  tl»o  rfi|.i(l  pro^n-oss 
of  tliiit  country  in  \vc:ihh,  i)(»i)Mluti(.ii,  iiml  iinitroVL'iiiunt, 
that,  in  tho  coursso  of  Httlo  ni(»ro  than  u  cuntiirv,  porhiips, 
the  pnxhico  of  AnicM-icii  ini;4ht  L'xci'cd  that  of  Jlritish  taxa- 
tion. Till'  md  <>/  (he  I'liij'in'  would  tlwii  Huturnlli/  remove 
Itsi'lf  to  tlmt  part  of  the  empire  vhieh  contrihntcd  mod  to 
the  (/eiiinil  ile/enre  mid  support  of  the  whole.'"  ' 

111  tht'so  triui([uil  words  of  assured  sciuiicc  the;  great 
author  carries  the  seat  of  goverunieiit  across  the  At- 
lantic. 

J)id  Adam  Smith  in  this  rcMuarkahle  i)assage  (h) 
moi-e  tlian  follow  a  hint  from  our  own  prophet?  Tho 
l)ropliecy  of  the  great  economist  first  appeared  in  177G. 
In  the  course  of  1774  and  down  to  Ajnil  11>,  1775, 
John  Achims  published  in  the  I'oston  (lazette  a  series 
of  weekly  articles  under  the  signature  of  Xovanglus, 
which  were  abridged  in  Almon's  Kememlirancer  for 
1775,  with  the  following  title,  "  History  of  the  Dis- 
pute with  America,  from  its  origin  in  1754  to  the 
present  time."  Although  this  abridged  edition  stops 
before  the  proi)hetic  passage,  it  is  not  impossible  that 
the  whole  series  was  known  to  Adam  Smith.  After 
speculating,  as  the  latter  did  afterwards,  on  the  exten- 
sion of  the  British  Constitution  and  Parliamentary 
representation  to  the  outlying  Britisli  dominions,  our 
prophet  says :  — 

"  If  in  twenty  years  more  America  should  have  six  mil- 
lions of  inhabitants,  as  there  is  a  boundless  territory  to 
fill  up,  she  must  have  five  hundred  representatives.  Upon 
these  principles,  if  in  forty  years  she  should  have  twelve 
millions,  a  thousand  ;  and  if  the  inhabitants  of  the  three 
kin«j;donis  reinaiu  as  they  are,  bein''  alreadv  full  of  inhabi- 

1  Wealth  of  Nations,  Book  1\,  cap.  7,  part  3. 


ADAM   S.MITir,   ITTG. 


109 


tants,  wlmt  will  bccDino  of  your  HUiiromc  lei^'isliituro  ?  ft 
will  1)0  tniUNliitiMl,  ci'own  iiii<l  all,  to  Ainoricu.  This  is  ii 
sublime  system  for  America.  It  will  flatter  those  ideas  of 
in(lej)en(leney  whieh  the  Tories  iiiijiiite  to  them,  if  they 
have  auy  sueh,  more  thau  any  other  plan  (jf  independency 
that  1  have  ever  heard  projeeted."  * 

Thus  jiliunly  was  John  Adams  jireeursor  of  Adam 
Smith. 

Theso  ]tapers  were  roprintcd  without  ahridLjmcnt  iu 
Loudon,  in  17.S4,  hy  Stockdale,  with  the  litlo  "History 
of  the  Disputes  with  Anieri<.'a  from  their  origin  iu 
17"»4,  written  iu  the  year  1774."  The  Monthly  lie- 
view,  in  Ji  notiee  of  the  puhlication,  after  speakin.L,'  of 
"the  inauspicious  system  of  American  taxation,"  says, 
"  ^Ir.  Adams  I'oretold  tin;  e(jnse([uence  of  ohstiuately 
adheriuL;  to  it,  and  the  event  hath  too  w(dl  verilied  his 
l)redictions.  They  were,  however,  ])redictions  which 
required  no  inspiration."^  So  that  his  wise  second 
sio-ht  M'as  recognized  in  Eniiland  nnich  beyond  the 
prevision  of  Adam  Smith. 

The  idea  of  t  ran  sport  iuL,'  the  seat  of  o-overnment  to 
America  was  often  attributc'd  to  Franklin  by  Dean 
Tucker.  The  former  in  a  letter,  as  early  as  2r)th  No- 
vember, 1707,  reports  the  Dean  as  savin*;',  "That  is  his 
constant  plan."^  In  one  of  his  tracts,'*  the  Dean  attrib- 
utes it  not  only  to  Franklin,  but  also  to  our  people. 
AVith  strange  exaggeration  he  says:  "It  has  been  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  the  Xorth  Americans  for  these 
fifty  years   past,  that  the  seat   of  empire  ought  to  be 

1  Works,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  4,  101,  102;  Almon's  Remembrancer. 

2  17S4,  Vol.  I.  p.  47S. 

8  Works  by  Sparks,  Vol.  VII.  p.  .3r,G. 

<  Answers  to  certain  Pnpnlar  Ohjection3  against  separating   from    the 
Rebellions  Colonies.     Gloccster,  177(3. 


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S  l.t 


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1 
II 

1 

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110 


1'i:oi'Iii:ti(J  voicks  coNCKUNiyr;  amkuica. 


transf(!rr(Ml  from  tlio  lessor  to  tlio  pjrc'ator  fnimtry,  tliut 
is,  I'l'Diii  I'liiL'laiKl  to  Aiiu'ricii,  or  as  I)r.  Kniiikliii  ulcj^iint- 
ly  jiliniscd  it,  IVoiii  tlio  cock-hoiit  to  tlu;  niiin-ol'-wur."  * 
It  is  iinjiossiltlu  to  say  liow  iniicli  of  this  was  i'roiii  the 
excited  l)raiii  of  the  Deau.''^ 

Dlt.    inrHAUD   PllirK,  n;*?,  1777,  1778,  1784. 

A  TUUK  and  solid  ally  of  our  (•oiuitry  at  a  critical  pe- 
riod was  J)r.  Trice,  disseiitiug  clergynum,  luclapliysiciiiii, 
iHtlitieul  writer,  and  niatlieniatician,  wiio  was  born  in 
Wales,  2;)d  February,  ITUo,  antl  died  in  London,  ITtli 
:\lar(;li,  1701. 

His  eai'liest  labors  were  a  *Mievi(!w  of  the  Trincipal 
Quiistions  and  Dilliculties  in  ]\lorals,"  by  which  he  \vas 
recognized  as  a  metaphysician,  and  a  "  Treatise  on  Ke- 
versionary  raynients,"  by  which  he  was  recognized  as 
an  authority  on  a  lai'g(;  class  of  financial  (lucstion.s.  At 
the  same  time  his  sermons  were  regarded  as  excellent. 
Amidst  these  various  labors  he  was  moved  to  enlist  as  a 
l)amphleteer  in  defence  of  the  Ameiican  Colonies.  This 
service,  ])rompted  by  a  generous  devotion  to  just  pi'inci- 
ples,  awakened  grateful  sentiments  on  both  sides  of  the 
ocean. 

The  Common  Council  of  London  marked  its  sympa- 
thy by  voting  him  the  freedom  of  the  city  in  a  gold  box 
of  £oO  value.  The  American  Congress  sent  him  a  dif- 
ferent testimonial,  officially  communicated  to  him,  being 
a  solemn  resolution  declaring  "the  desire  of  Congress  to 
consider  him  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
receive  his  assistance  in  regulating  their  finances."  ^    In 

1  Pii.iro  no. 

2  Scoiilso  Cui  RdiioV  p.  87. 

3  John  Adani'!,  AVorks,  Vol.  VII.  \).  71. 


Dli.    KKIIAKI)    ruit  K,    I7T({. 


Ill 


roply,  uiidor  (late?  of  IHtli  .raimarv,  1770,  wliili;  (Iccliiiiii^,' 
the  invitation,  in;  ollciud  "assurances  tiiat  I  )r.  i'ricii 
feels  tlie  warmest  ^ratitnile  for  tlie  uotiec;  taken  of  liiin, 
and  tliat  he  looks  to  tlie  American  States  as  iion'  tlie 
hoju!  and  likely  xm^/i  to  l)econu!  the  rerii|j;e  of  mankind."  ^ 
Franklin  and  Adams  contracted  with  him  relations  of 
friendshi|).  J'lie  former,  nntler  date;  of  <»Lii  Kehrnary,  I7<S", 
wrot(!  him:  "  Vonr  wi'itini^s,  after  all  the  alaise  you 
and  they  have  met  with,  hej^nn  U)  make  s(frious  inqtres- 
sions  on  tliosi;  who  at  first  rejecttid  the  counsels  you 
j>ave."'^  And  2d  (,)ctoher,  17SS,  he  wrote  to  another: 
"  Jlememher  me  affectionately  to  n'ood  |)r.  Price." '^  The 
hitter,  in  convspomlence  many  years  afterwards,  recorded 
the  intimacy  he  enjoyed  with  l)r.  Price  at  the  hou.se  of 
the  Litter,  "at  his  own  lujuse  and  at  the  houses  and 
tahles  of  many  friends."'* 

The  first  of  his  American  tracts  was  in  1  77r),  heini,' 
"  Ohservations  on  the  Xatiii'(!  of  Civil  Liherty,  the  I'rin- 
ciples  of  (fovernment,  and  the  Justict;  and  Policy  of  the 
War  with  America."  The  sale  of  sixty  thousand  copies 
in  a  few  months  shows  the  extensive  acceptancje  of  the 
work.  The  j^eneral  ])rinciples  so  clearly  exhibited  are 
invoked  for  America.  Occasionally  the  philosopher  be- 
comes prophet,  as  M'licn  he  predicts  the  growth  of  ])opii- 
lation :  — 

"  They  are  now  but  little  short  of  half  our  number.  To 
this  number  they  have  <^ro\vn  from  a  small  body  of  ori^'inal 
settlers  by  a  very  rapid  increase.  The  jn-ohability  is  that 
they  will  go  on  to  increase,  and  that  in  fifty  or  sixty  years 
they  will  be  donhle  our  number  and  form  a  mujldy  empire, 

1  Writings  of  Friuiklin  by  Sparks,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  355. 
-  Ii)i(l.,  p.  417. 

3  Iliid.,  Vol.  X.  p.  .305. 

4  LeUcr  to  Jellcrsoii,  September  14,  1813.     Works,  Vol.  X.  p.  175. 


af'f 


4 


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it 
It 


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U 


:i  '^ 


112 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCEllNING   AMERICA. 


consisting  of  a  varidy  of  States,  all  equal  or  superior  to  our- 
selves in  all  the  arts  and  acrojnj)lis/iments  which  (five  dignity 
and  happiness  to  human  life!''  ^ 

Notliini;  less  tlian  "  a  vast  continent "  seems  to  liim  the 
sjihere  of  tliis  reniai'kal»le  development,  and  lie  revolts 
at  the  idea  of  tliis  being  held  "at  the  discretion  of  a 
handful  of  i)eo[)le  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic." 
In  the  measures  which  brought  on  the  war  he  saw  "the 
hnnd  of  Providence  icorking  to  bring  about  sonic  great 
e7ul."^  And  tlie  vast  continent  was  to  be  dedicated  to 
Liberty.  The  excellent  man  saw  even  the  end  of  slav- 
ery. Speaking  of  "the  negroes  of  the  southern  colonies," 
he  said  that  they  "  probably  will  have  either  soon  become 
extinct  or  have  their  condition  changed  into  that  of  free- 
mcnr  ^  Years  and  battle  intervened  Ijefore  this  precious 
result. 

This  jn-oduction  was  followed  in  1777  by  "  Addi- 
tional Observations  on  the  Nature  and  Value  of  Civil 
Liber*^y  and  the  War  vrith  America,"  to  which  were 
added  "  Observations  on  Public  Loans,  the  National 
Debt,  and  the  Debt  and  Pesources  of  France."  In  all 
this  variety  of  topics,  his  concern  ibr  America  breaks 
forth  in  the  inquiry,  "  Must  not  humanity  shudder  at 
such  a  war  ? "  And  he  sees  untold  loss  to  England, 
which,  with  tlie  Colonies,  "  might  be  the  greatest  and 
happiest  nation  tliat  ever  existed";  but  without  them 
"  we  are  no  more  one  people  ;  our  existence  depends  on 
keeping  them."  This  patriotic  gloom  is  checked  by  an- 
other vision  :  — 

"  These  measures  have,  in  all  probability,  hastened  the 
disruption  of  tlie  new  from  the  old  world,  which  will  hegi^i  a 


1  Pages  25,  26. 


2  Page  55. 


8  Page  41,  note. 


t 


DR.    lilCIIAKD   nUCE,   1784. 


113 


new  era  in  the  annals  of  mankin  I,  and  produce  a  revolution 
more  important,  perhaps,  than  any  that  has  happened  in 
human  ati'airs."  ^ 

Tlius  was  American  independence  heralded  and  its 
influence  Ibietold. 

Constantly  sympathizing  with  America,  and  impressed 
by  the  magnitude  of  the  issue,  his  soul  fonnd  another 
utterance  in  1778,  in  what  he  called  "  The  (Jenerul  In- 
troduction to  the  Two  Tracts  on  Civil  Liberty,  the  War 
with  America,  and  the  Finances  of  the  Kingdom."  Here 
again  he  sees  a  vision :  — 

"A  great  people,  likely  to  be  formed,  in  spite  of  all  our 
efforts,  into  iree  communities,  under  governments  which 
have  no  religious  tests  and  establishments  !  A  new  era  in 
future  annals,  and  a  new  opening  in  human  affairs,  begin- 
ning among  the  descendants  of  Englishmen,  in  a  new  world  ! 
A  rising  empire,  extended  over  an  immense  continent,  ivilhout 
bishops,  without  nobles,  and  without  kingsy  ^ 

After  the  recognition  of  Independence  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  peace,  Dr.  Price  appeared  with  another 
tract:  "Observations  on  the  Importance  of  the  Ameri- 
can lievolution  and  tlie  Means  of  making  it  a  Benefit  to 
the  AVorld."  This  was  in  1784.  And  here  he  repeated 
the  exultation  of  an  earlier  day  :  — 

"Wit.,  heartfelt  satisfaction  I  sec  the  revolution  in  favor 
of  universal  liberty  which  has  taken  place  in  America,  —  a 
revolution  which  opens  a  neiv  prospect  in  human  ctjfairs,  and 
begins  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  mankind.^  ....  Perhaps 
I  do  not  go  too  flxr  when  I  say  that,  next  to  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  among  mankind,   the  American  revolution 


1  Piise  49. 


2  Page  ix. 


8  Pnge  2. 
H 


^ 


If  ( f 


HI' 


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'*, 


i 


k; 


114 


PKOniETIC  VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


may  prove  the  most  important  step  iu  tl  .  progres^iivo  course 
of  human  improvement."  * 

Tlius  announcing  the  grandeur  of  the  epoch,  he  states 
that  it  "may  produce  a  general  dill'usiou  of  the  prin- 
ci[)les  of  luunanity,"  and  may  lead  mankind  to  see  and 
know  "  that  all  legitimate  government  consists  in  the 
dominion  of  equal  IrnoH,  made  with  common  consent," 
wliich  is  another  expression  of  the  primal  trutli  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Then,  referring  to  the 
"  community  or  confederacy"  of  States,  he  says  "thi  it 
is  not  impossible  but  that  hy  some  such  means  univer- 
sal peace  may  some  time  or  other  be  produced,  and  all 
war  excluded  from  the  world";  and  he  asks,"AVliy  may 
we  not  hope  to  see  this  begun  in  America  ? "  ^  ^^^y 
America  be  true  to  this  aspiration  !  There  is  also  a 
longing  for  equality,  and  a  warning  against  slavery, 
with  the  ejaculation,  in  liarmony  with  earlier  words, 
"  Let  the  United  States  continue  forever  what  it  is  now 
tlieir  glory  to  be,  a  confederation  of  States,  prosperous 
and  happy,  without  lords,  vntliout  hislioj)^,  and  witJiout 
Idmjsy  ^  In  the  midst  of  the  bloody  conflict  tliis  vision 
had  appeared,  and  he  had  sought  to  make  it  a  reality. 

His  true  friendship  for  our  country  and  his  devotion 
to  humanity,  with  the  modesty  of  his  nature,  appear  in 
a  letter  to  Franklin,  12th  July,  1784,  communicating  a 
copy  of  the  last  production.  After  saying  that  "  it  is 
intended  entirely  for  America,"  the  excellent  counsellor 
proceeds :  — 

"  I  hope  the  United  States  will  forgive  my  presumption  in 
supposing  myself  qualified  to  advise  them.  The  conscious- 
ness which  I  have  that  it  is  well  intended,  and  that  my  ad- 


1  Parre  6. 


2  Pajre  15. 


8  Page  72. 


GOVERNOR    TOWN  ALL,    1777. 


115 


dress  to  them  is  the  effusion  of  a  heart  that  wishes  to  servo 
the  best  interests  of  society,  helps  to  reconcile  nv:  to  myself 
in  this  instance,  and  it  will,  1  hope,  Ciigage  the  candor  of 
others."  ^ 

The  same  sentiments  which  ju'oved  his  sympathies 
with  our  country  rea[)[)eared  with  fresh  iires  at  the  out- 
break of  the  French  Uevolulion,  arousing,  in  opposition, 
the  immortal  elo([uence  of  Burke.  A  discourse  "  On  the 
Love  of  Country,"  preached  at  the  Old  -Icwry,  4tli  No- 
vember, 1780,  in  commemoration  of  the  Knglish  Uevolu- 
tion,  with  friendly  glances  at  what  was  then  passing 
across  the  Channel,  prom[)ted  the  "  licllections  on  the 
Ivcvolution  in  France."  The  personal  denunciation  which 
is  the  beginning  of  that  remarkable  performance  is  the 
perpetual  witness  to  the  position  of  the  preacher,  whose 
pro^dietic  soul  did  not  hesitate  to  acce[)t  the  Ircaich 
lievolution  side  by  side  with  ours  in  glory  and  in 
promise. 

GOVERNOR   rOWNALL,    1777,  1780,  178.5. 

Among  the  best  friends  of  our  countrv  abroad  during 
the  trials  of  the  Tle\T)lution  was  Thomas  Pownall,  called 
by  one  biographer  "a  h>arned  nnti([nary  and  politician," 
and  hy  another  "an  English  statesman  and  author." 
Latterly  he  has  so  far  dropped  out  of  sight  that  tlierc 
are  few  who  recognize  in  him  either  of  these  characters. 
He  was  born,  1722,  and  died  at  Bath,  1805.  During 
this  long  period  he  held  several  offices.  As  early  as 
1745  he  became  secretary  to  the  Commission  for  Trade 
and  Plantations.  In  175.3  he  crossed  the  ocean.  In 
1755,  as  Commissioner  for  IMassachiisetts  Bay,  he  iie- 

1  Franklin,  Works  by  Sparks,  Vol.  X.  p.  105. 


,.  I 


II' I 


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(«.  H'l 


IIG 


rUUl'IlETIC   VOICES   GONCEUNINO   AMEllICA. 


gotiated  with  Nuw  Yi»ik,  Xovv  Jc.Tsey,  and  Peiiiisyl- 
vuuiii,  ill  union  with  New  Kngland,  the  oonlcderatod 
expedition  against  (.'rown  Point.  lie  was  afterwards 
Governor  ol"  Massaeliusetts  Pay,  New  Jersey,  and  South 
Carolina,  successively,  lleturning  to  England,  he  was, 
in  1701,  Coinptroller-deneral  of  the  army  in  Germany, 
with  the  military  rank  of  colonel.  He  sat  in  tliree 
successive  Parliaments  until  1780,  when  he  ])assed  into 
private  life.  Hildreth  gives  a  glimpse  of  his  personal 
ciiaracter,  when,  admitting  his  frank  manners  and  lib- 
eral politics,  he  describes  his  "  habits  as  rather  freer 
tlian  suited  the  New  England  standard."  ^ 

Pownall  stands  forth  conspicuous  for  championshii) 
of  our  national  independence,  and  especially  for  fore- 
sight with  regard  to  our  national  future.  In  both  these 
respects  his  writings  are  uni(pie.  Other  Englishmen 
were  in  favor  of  independence,  and  saw  our  future  also ; 
but  I  doubt  if  anv  one  can  be  named  who  was  his 
ecpial  in  strenuous  action  or  in  minuteness  of  fore- 
sight. While  the  war  was  still  proceeding,  as  early 
as  1780,  he  openly  announced,  not  only  that  inde- 
pendence was  inevitable,  but  that  the  new  nation, 
"  founded  in  nature  and  built  u})  in  truth,"  would  con- 
tinually expand ;  that  its  population  would  increase 
and  multiply;  that  a  civilizing  activity  beyond  what 
Europe  could  ever  know  would  animate  it;  and  that 
its  commercial  and  naval  power  would  be  found  in 
every  quarter  of  the  globe.  All  this  he  set  forth  at 
length  with  argument  and  illustration,  and  he  called 
liis  prophetic  words  "  the  statinfj  of  the  simple  fact,  so 
little  understood  in  the  Old  World."  Treated  at  first 
as  "unin'elligible  speculation"  and  as  "unfashionable," 

1  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  II.  p.  476. 


GOVERNOR  POWNALL,   1777. 


117 


VI 


the  truth  lie  annoimcetl  was  neglected  whore  it  was 
not  rejected,  but  generally  rejected  as  inadmissible,  and 
the  author,  accordin,;^'  to  his  own  lanj^niage,  "  was  called 
by  the  wise  men  of  the  liritish  Cabinet  a  WUd  Man, 
unfit  to  be  employed."  Ikit  these  writings  are  a  better 
title  now  than  any  of1i(;e.  In  manner  tiiey  are  difliise 
and  pedantic;  but  they  hardly  deserve  the  cold  judg- 
fuent  of  John  Adams,  who  in  his  old  age  said  of  tiiein 
th.'it  "a  reader  who  has  patience  to  search  for  good 
sense  in  an  uncouth  and  disgusting  style  will  find  in 
tliose  writings  proofs  of  a  thinking  mind."  ^ 

He  seems  to  have  written  a  good  deal.  But  the 
works  which  will  be  remembered  the  longest  are  not 
even  mentioned  by  several  of  his  biographers,  liose, 
in  his  Ihograpliical  Dictionary,  records  works  by  him, 
entitled  "  Antiquities  of  Ancient  Greece  " ;  "  Itoman  An- 
tiquities dug  up  at  Bath";  "Observations  on  the  Cur- 
rents of  the  Ocean  "  ;  "  Intellectual  Physics  "  ;  and  also 
contributions  to  the  Arcluxiologia.  Gorton  in  his  Bio- 
graphical Dictionary  adds  other  titles  to  this  list.  Ihit 
neither  mentions  his  works  on  America.  This  is  an- 
other instance  where  the  stone  rejected  by  the  builders 
becomes   he  head  of  the  corner. 

At  an  early  date  Pownall  comprehended  the  position 
of  our  country,  geographically.  He  saw  the  wonderful 
means  of  internal  comnumication  supi)lied  by  its  inland 
waters,  and  also  the  opportunities  of  external  commerce 
supplied  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  On  the  first  he  dwells, 
in  a  memorial  drawn  up  in  17oG  for  the  Duke  of  Cum- 
berland.2  Nobody  in  our  own  day,  after  the  experience 
of  more  than  a  century,  has  portrayed  more  vividly 

1  Letter  to  William  Tudor,  February  4,  1817.     Works,  Vol.  X.  p.  241. 

2  Administration  of  the  Colonies,  Appendix,  p.  7. 


l''^ 


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1; 


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118 


ntoriirnc  voicEd  conueunixg  ameuica. 


the  two  vast  a([ueous  masses,  —  one  coinposed  of  the 
great  hikes  and  their  (lej)eii(leueies,  and  tlie  other  of 
the  ]Mississii)pi  and  its  tributaries.  Tiie  great  hikes 
are  described  as  "a  wihlerness  of  waters  spreading 
over  the  country  by  an  infinite  iiuniljer  and  variety  of 
brandlings,  bays,  and  straits."  Tiie  Mississippi,  with 
its  eastern  branch,  called  the  Ohio,  is  described  as 
having,  "  so  far  as  we  know,  but  two  falls,  —  one  at  a 
place  called,  by  the  French,  St.  Antoine,  high  uj)  on 
tiie  west  or  main  branch " ;  and  all  its  waters  "  run 
to  the  ocean  with  a  still,  easy,  and  gentle  current." 
The  ])icture  is  completed  by  exhibiting  the  two  masses 
in  combination  :  — 

"The  waters  of  each  respective  mass  —  not  only  tho 
lesser  streams,  but  tho  main  general  body  of  each  going 
through  this  continent  in  every  course  and  direction  — 
have  by  their  apj)roach  to  each  other,  by  their  communi- 
cation to  every  qnarter  and  in  every  direction,  an  alliance 
and  imity,  and  form  one  mass,  or  one  whole."  ^ 

Again,  depicting  the  intercommnnication  among  the 
several  waters  of  the  continent,  and  how  "the  watery 
element  claims  and  holds  dominion  over  this  extent 
of  land,"  he  insists  that  all  shall  see  these  two  mighty 
masses  in  their  central  throne,  declaring  that  "  the  ixreat 
lakes  which  lie  npon  its  l)osom  on  one  hand,  and  the 
great  river  AIississi])pi  and  the  multitnde  of  waters 
which  rnn  into  it,  form  there  a  communication,  —  an 
alliance  or  dominion  of  the  watery  element,  that  com- 
mands throughout  the  whole ;  that  these  great  lakes 
a])pear  to  be  the  throne,  the  centre  of  a  dominion, 
whose  influence,  by  an  infinite  number  of  rivers,  creeks, 

1  Admiiuslrtitlon  of  the  Colonies,  Appendix,  p.  6. 


f ' 


GOVEUXOU   POWNALL,    1777. 


UU 


and  s'Tcains,  extends  itself  tliroui^li  all  and  every  part 
of  the  continent,  (supported  by  the  coininunieation  of, 
and  alliance  with,  the  waters  of  the  ^Iissis8ii)pi."  * 

If  tiiese  means  of  internal  commerce  were  vast,  those 
afforded  l)y  the  Atlantic  Ocean  were  not  less  extensive. 
The  latter  were  developed  in  the  volume  entitled  "  Tiu; 
Administration  ol"  the  Colonies,"  the  fourth  edition  of 
which,  published  in  170S,  is  now  before  me.  This  was 
after  tii(3  differences  between  the  Colonies  and  the 
mother  country  had  begun,  but  before  the  idea  of 
indei)endence  had  shown  itself.  Townall  insisted  that 
the  Colonies  ought  to  be  considered  as  parts  of  the 
realm,  entitled  to  representation  in  rarlianient.  This 
was  a  constitutional  nnity,  JJut  he  portrayed  a  com- 
mercial unity  also,  which  he  represented  in  attractive 
forms.  The  liritish  Isles,  and  the  British  possessions 
in  the  Atlantic  and  in  America,  were,  according  to  him, 
"one  grand  marine  doriinion,"  and  ought,  therefore,  by 
])olicy,  to  be  united  into  one  empire,  with  one  centre. 
On  this  he  dwells  at  length,  and  the  picture  is  i)re- 
sented  repeatedly.^  It  was  incident  to  the  crisis  in 
the  world  produced  by  the  predominance  of  tlie  com- 
mercial spirit  already  beginning  to  rule  the  powers  of 
Europe.  Tt  was  the  duty  of  England  to  place  herself 
at  the  head  of  this  great  movement. 

"  As  the  rising  of  this  crisis  forms  precisely  the  object 
on  which  government  should  be  employed,  so  the  taking 
lcadin<«-  measures  towards  the  forminsj;  all  those  Atlantic 
and  American  possessions  into  one  empire,  of  which  Great 
Britain  should  be  the  commercial  and  political  centre,  is 
the  precise  duty  of  government  at  this  crisis." 

1  Administration  of  the  Colonies,  p.  9. 

2  Ibid.,  pp  9,  10,  104. 


i  r 


-  M- 


120 


niOrilETIC   VOICES  concerning   AMERICA. 


, 


)  I 


»«!l 


'LL. 


This  was  liis  desire.  But  he  saw  clearly  the  resources 
as  well  us  the  riglits  of  the  ('(jlonies,  ami  was  satisfied 
that,  if  power  were  not  consolidated  under  the  consti- 
tutional au.jpices  of  England,  it  W(nild  l)e  transferred 
to  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Here  his  words  are 
prophetic :  — 

"The  whole  train  of  events,  the  whole  course  of  husinoss, 
must  perpL'tuidly  bring  forward  into  practice,  and  necessarily 
in  the  end  into  establishment,  either  an  American  or  a  Brit- 
ish union.     There  is  no  other  alternative." 

The  necessity  for  union  is  enf(jrced  iu  a  manner 
whicli  foreshadows  our  national  Union:  — 

"  The  Colonial  Legislature  docs  not  answer  all  purposes ; 
is  incompetent  and  inadcnpiate  to  many  purposes.  Some- 
thing more  is  necessary,  —  either  a  common  union  amoncf 
themselves,  or  a  common  union  of  subordination  under  the 
one  general  legislature  of  the  state."  ^ 

Then,  again,  in  another  place  of  the  same  work,  after 
representing  the  declarations  of  power  over  the  Colonies 
as  little  better  than  mockery,  he  prophesies  :  — 

"Such  is  the  actual  state  of  the  really  existing  system 
of  our  dominions,  that  neither  the  poiver  of  government  over 
these  various  parts  can  long  continne  under  the  present  mode 
of  administration,  nor  the  great  interests  of  commerce  ex- 
tended throughout  the  whole  long  subsist  under  the  present 
system  of  the  laws  of  trade."  ^ 

Ilecent  events  may  give  present  interest  to  his  views, 
in  this  same  work,  on  the  nature  and  necessity  of  a 
paper  currency,  where  he  follows  Franklin.     The  prin- 

*  Administration  of  the  Colonies,  p.  165. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  16. 


GOVEHNOR  TOWN  ALL,   1777. 


121 


cipal  joints  of  liis  idiin  were,  that  bills  of  credit,  to  a 
certiiiii  {iiiiount,  slioultl  l)o  printed  in  Mnijland  for  tiie 
use  of  the  Colonies;  tluit  a  loiin-olliee  should  be  estiib- 
lished  in  eiieh  Colony  to  issue  bills,  take  securities,  and 
receive  the  i)aynient ;  tluit  the  bills  should  be  issiufd 
for  ten  years,  beurinj^  interest  at  iive  ])er  cent,  —  one 
tenth  part  of  the  sum  borrowed  to  be  i)aid  anmially, 
with  interest;  and  that  they  should  be  a  lejjjal  tender. 

When  the  dillerences  had  llamed  forth  in  \var,  then 
the  prophet  became  more  earnest.  II  is  ntterances 
deserve  to  be  rescued  from  oblivion.  lie  was  open, 
almost  defiant.  As  early  as  2d  December,  1777,  some 
months  before  our  treaty  with  Francf),  he  declanid, 
from  his  place  in  Pai'liament,  "that  the  sovereignty 
of  this  country  over  America  is  abolished  and  gone 
forever";  Uiat  they  are  determined  at  all  events  to 
be  independent,  and  luill  he  so " ;  and  "  that  all  the 
treaty  this  country  can  ever  exj)ect  with  America  is 
federal,  and  that,  probably,  only  connnercial,"  In  this 
spirit  he  said  to  the  Honse :  — 

"  Until  you  shall  be  convinced  that  you  jirc  no  longer 
sovereigns  over  America,  but  that  the  United  Sttites  arc 
an  independent,  sovereign  people,  —  until  you  arc  prepared 
to  treat  with  them  as  such,  —  it  is  of  no  consequence  at 
all  what  schemes  or  plans  of  conciliation  this  side  of  the 
House  or  that  may  adopt."  ^ 

The  position  taken  in  Parliament  he  maintained  by 
writings,  and  here  he  depicted  the  great  destinies  of 
our  conntry.  lie  began  with  "  A  Memorial  to  the 
Sovereigns  of  Europe,"  published  early  in  1780,  and 
afterwards,  through    the    influence    of    John    Adams, 

1  Parliamentary  History,  Vol.  XIX.  pp.  527,  528.     See  also  p.  1137. 
6 


t 


122 


rUOrilKTIC   VOICES  CONCEUNINCJ   amlkica. 


;,.  s|   !  J 


wliilo  at  tlio  Ilai^uc,  iiliridgod  and  translated  into 
I'l'cncli.  In  tliis  runiarkaUlu  piuductiuii  induitendencu 
was  tliu  least  that  liu  clainiud  lor  us.  Thus  he  fore- 
tells (jiir  I'liturc :  — 

"North  America  is  become  a  new  primary  planet  in  the 
system  of  the  world,  which,  wliile  it  takes  its  own  course, 
nuist  have  etl'ect  on  the  orhit  of  every  otlicr  planet,  and 
shift  the  comiiioii  centre  of  ^^avity  of  the  whctlc  svstem  ol' 
the  Kuropciin  worhl.  North  America  is  de  J'ltcto  an  inde- 
pendent power,  wliich  has  taken  its  equal  sti;ti()n  with  other 

j)owers,   and  nuist  he  so  de  Jure The  ijidependencc 

of  America  is  fixed  as  fate.  She  is  mistress  of  her  own 
future,  knows  thut  siie  is  so,  and  will  actuate  that  j)ower 
which  she  feels  she  hath,  so  as  to  establish  her  own  system 
and  to  chamje  the  system  of  L'urope."  ^ 

Not  only  is  the  new  power  to  take  an  independent 
plaee,  but  it  is  "  to  eluinge  the  system  of  Europe."  For 
all  this  its  people  are  amply  prejjared.  "Standing  on 
that  high  ground  of  imi)rovement  up  to  which  the  most 
enlightened  ])arts  of  Europe  have  advanced,  like  eaglets, 
they  commence  the  first  efforts  of  their  pinions  from  a 
towering  advantage."^  This  same  conviction  appears 
in  another  form  :  — 

"  North  America  has  advanced,  and  is  every  day  advan- 
cing, to  growth  of  state,  with  a  steady  and  continually 
accelerating  motion,  of  which  there  has  never  yet  been 
any  example  in  Europe.^  ....  It  is  a  vitality,  liable  to 
many  disorders,  many  dangerous  diseases;  but  it  is  young 
and  strong,  and  will  struggle,  by  the  vigor  of  internal 
healing  principles  of  life,  against  those  evils,  and  surmount 
them.     Its  strength  will  grow  with  its  years."* 


1  Memorial  to  the  Sovereigns  of  Europe,  pp.  4,  5. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  43.  3  Ibid.,  p.  56.  ■*  Ibid.,  p.  69. 


GOVKUNOU   rOWNALL,    17S0. 


123 


'  c 


III!  tlu'ii  ilwx'lls  ill  (Irtiiil  on  "  tlio  lU'Oirros.sivo  popu- 
lation" lu'iv  ;  on  our  udviinlaL^c  in  boin;;  "on  ihu  oilier 
siilu  of  till)  ,<;lolu',  wlioru  tliero  i.s  no  enemy";  on  the 
]»ro(lucts  of  tlie  soil,  iiinon;^'  which  is  "  hreail-coin  to  u 
(li\^ree  that  has  wrought  it  to  a  sta|)le  export  for  the 
supply  of  the  Old  World";  on  the  hsheries,  which 
he  calls  "  mines  of  more  solid  riches  than  all  the  sil- 
ver of  I'otosi  "  ;  on  the  inventive  spirit  of  the  i)eople  ; 
and  on  their  comnun'cial  activity.  Of  such  a  peoi)le 
it  is  easy  to  predict  great  things;  and  our  proi»het  an- 
nounces, — 

1.  That  the  new  state  will  be  "  an  active  naval 
power,"  exercising  a  i)eculiar  inlluence  on  commerce, 
and,  through  commerce,  on  the  i)olitical  system  of  the 
Ohl  World,  —  becoming  the  arbitress  of  commerce,  and, 
perhaps,  the  mediatrix  of  })eace.^ 

2.  That  shipbuihling  and  the  science  of  navigation 
have  made  such  progress  in  America  that  her  ])eople 
will  be  able  to  build  and  navigate  cheaper  than  any 
country  in  Euro])e,  even  Holland,  with  all  her  economy.^ 

•').  That  the  peculiar  articles  to  be  had  from  America 
only,  and  so  nuich  sought  in  Kuro])e,  must  give  Amer- 
icans a  preference  in  those  markets.^ 

4,  That  a  peojde  "whose  empire  stands  singly  pre- 
dominant on  a  great  continent "  can  hardly  "  sufl'er  in 
their  borders  such  a  monopoly  as  the  Euro})ean  Hudson 
]>ay  Company";  that  it  cannot  be  stoj)ped  by  (.'a])o 
J  lorn  or  the  Cape  of  Good  Hoj)e ;  that  before  long 
they  will  bo  found  "  trading  in  the  South  Sea  and  in 
China  "  ;  and  that  the  Dutch  "  will  hear  of  them  in  the 
Spice  Isli-^ds."* 


: 


4'y 


1  Memorial  to  the  Sovereigns  of  I'uropc,  pp.  74,  77. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  82.  8  Ibid.,  p.  83.  *  Ibid.,  p.  86. 


^■'-J» 


124 


rROPIlETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING    AMERICA. 


5.  Tliiit  by  ('((iiHtiiut  intLTcoininunion  of  iMi.sincs.s  iiud 
coiTC'Spoudi'iice,  und  by  iiuioust'd  kiiowU'd^'u  with  w,- 
[i^iU'd  to  tliu  oceiui,  "  Amuricii  will  suom  every  day  to 
apiiroiuh  iifiii'LT  and  iit'.inM'  to  Kuro}»u";  that  the  old 
alanii  at  the  sea  will  .subside,  and  "  a  thousaiul  attrac;- 
tive  motives  will  beeonie  the  irresistible  eaiise  of  an 
ah/iosf  (joicrdl  cnuyrdfion  to  the  Nav  World" ;  and 
that  "  many  of  the  most  useful,  enterprising  sjiirits,  and 
much  of  the  active  ]»ro])erty,  will  ^^o  then;  also."  * 

0.  That  "  North  America  will  l»ecome  a  J'rcc  jiort  to 
all  the  nations  of  the  world  indiscriminatelv,  and  will 
expect,  insist  on,  and  demand,  in  fair  reciprocity,  afire 
marhrt  in  all  th()SC  nations  with  whom  she  trades"; 
and  that,  adherinjj;  to  this  ])rinciple,  she  must  be,  "in 
the  course  of  time,  the  chief  carrier  of  the  commerce 
of  the  whole  world."  ^ 

7.  That  America  must  avoid  complication  with  Eu- 
ropean i)olitics,  or  "  the  entan,L,dement  of  alliances,  hav- 
in^Li:  no  connections  with  Europe  other  than  commer- 
cial";^—  all  of  which  at  a  later  day  was  put  forth 
by  Washington  in  his  Farewell  Address  when  ho  said: 
"  The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us,  in  regard  to  foreign 
nations,  is,  in  extending  our  commercial  relations,  to 
have  with  them  as  little  political  concern  as  ])ossible"; 
and  also  when  he  said :  "  Why,  by  interweaving  our 
destiny  with  .hat  of  any  part  of  Europe,  entangle  our 
peace  and  prosperity  in  the  toils  of  European  ambition, 
rivalship,  interest,  humor,  or  caprice?"* 

8.  That  similar  modes  of  living  and  thinking,  the 
same  manners  and  same  fashions,  the  same  language 

^  Momorinl  to  the  Sovereigns  of  Europe,  p.  87. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  80,  97. 

«  Ibid.,  p.  78. 

<  Writings  by  Sparks,  Vol.  XII.  pp  231,  232. 


govi:i:n()U  pownall,  iths,  i78n. 


125 


niul  old  habits  of  iiiiti<>n;il  love,  iinprosst'd  on  tlir  luNirt 
iind  not  yet  t'lliici'd,  the  vert/  imUnlimii^  of  (he  J'ructure. 
V'/urc  Aorfh  Ainrrira  in  hroLrii  ojf  Jrinii  J'Jin//f(tu/,  all 
(•()n.</>i)r  nitfin'((//f/  to  n   njtinrhnr  hif  nlliann.^ 

\K  'I'lmt  the  sovi;iL'i;4nM  of  ICuroiu',  "  wh(»  hiivt>  (U'spiscd 
tlio  nnrusliionc'd,  awkwurd  youth  of  Aincricii,"  and  havo 
ncLiloctod  to  interweave  their  interests  willi  the  risini' 
Statei,  when  liiey  find  the  system  of  the  m  w  enipin; 
not  only  ohstrnetinj,',  hut  sui>ers(>(lin;,',  tlu!  old  system 
of  Kurope,  and  crossin;^  all  their  settled  maxims,  will 
call  upon  their  ministers  and  wise  men,  "Come,  curse 
me  this  ])e()ple,  for  they  are  too  mi,ulily  for  me."''^ 

This  remarkahk!  aj»])eal  was  followed  hy  two  memo- 
rials, "drawn  up  solely  for  the  kin,«;'s  use,  and  desi^ncid 
solely  for  his  eye,"  datctl  at  liiehmond,  Junuary,  1782, 
where  the  author  Tuost  persuasively  ur^es  his  Maj(!sty 
to  treat  with  the  CJolonies  on  the  footinj^"  of  inck'pen- 
dence,  and  with  this  view  to  institute  a  ]»r(diminary  ne- 
gotiation "as  with  free  states  dc  far/o  under  a  truce." 
And  on  the  signature  of  the  troatv  of  peace  he  wrote  a 
])rivatG  letter  to  Franklin,  dated  at  IJiehmond,  28th 
Fehruary,  1783,  where  he  testifies  again  to  the  magni- 
tude of  the  event :  — 

"My  old  Frimnu,  —  I  write  this  to  con;;ratulatc  you  on 
the  establishtncnt  of  your  country  as  a  free  and  sovereign 
j)o\vcr,  taking  its  equal  station  amongst  the  powers  of  the 
world.  I  conunitidate  you,  in  j)articular,  us  ciiosen  by 
Providence  to  be  a  principal  instnuncnt  in  this  great  Ilevo- 
hition,  —  a  Ixcvolntion  iluit  has  stranger  marks  of  JJlvinc  in- 
terposition, svpersedivrf  the  ordinarif  course  of  human  affairs, 
than  any  other  event  which  this  world  has  exjierienced.'^ 

1  Mcmorinl  to  the  Sovereigns  of  Kurope,  p.  93. 
a  Ibid.,  p.  91. 


*  ii 


V 

■■*■  rfS 


tn 


12G 


I'ROriTETIC   VOICES   CONCERNIXO   AMERICA. 


TliG  prophet  closes  liis  letter  by  allusion  to  a  pro- 
posed tour  of  America,  adding  that,  "  if  there  ever  ^vas 
an  ohject  worth  travelling  to  see,  and  worthy  of  the 
conteni))lation  of  a  philosopher,  it  is  that  in  which  he 
niny  see  the  beginning  of  a  great  empire  at  its  foun- 
dation."^ lie  conimunicated  this  purpose  also  to  John 
Adams,  who  answered  him  that  "  he  would  be  received 
respectfully  in  every  part  of  America,  that  he  had 
alwiiys  been  considered  Iriendly  to  America,  and  ^^hat 
his  writings  had  been  useful  to  our  cause."  ^ 

Then  came  another  word,  first  j^ublishcd  in  1783, 
entitled  "  A  Memorial  addressed  to  the  Sovereigns  of 
America,  by  Governor  I'ownall,"  of  which  he  gave  the 
mistaken  judgment  to  a  private  friend,  that  it  was  "  the 
best  t\nu£f  he  ever  wrote."  Here  for  the  first  time 
American  citizens  are  called  "  sovereigns."  At  the 
beginning  he  explains  and  indicates  the  simplicity 
with  which  he  addresses  them :  — 


"  Having  presumed  to  address  to  the  Sovereigns  of  En- 
rope  a  Memorial  ....  permit  me  now  to  address  this 
Memorial  to  yon,  Sovereigns  of  America.  I  shall  not  ad- 
dress you  with  the  court  titles  of  Gothic  Europe,  nor  with 
those  of  servile  Asia.  I  will  neither  address  j'our  Sublim- 
ity or  Majesty,  your  Grace  or  Eloliness,  your  Eminence  or 
High  mightiness,  your  Excellence  or  Honors.  What  are 
titles  where  things  themselves  are  known  and  understood  1 
What  title  did  the  Republic  of  Rome  take  .  The  state  was 
known  to  be  sovereign  and  the  citizens  to  be  free.  What 
could  add  to  this?  Therefore,  United  States  and  Citizens 
of  America,  I  address  you  as  you  are."* 

1  Franklin,  Works  by  Spark.s,  Vol.  IX.  p.  491. 

2  .Tolm  Adams,  Works,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  179. 

8  Memorial  to  the  Sovereign?  of  America,  pp.  5,  6. 


GOVEIINOR   rOWNALL,   17S3. 


127 


Here  again  are  the  same  constant  sympathy  with 
liberty,  the  same  confulence  in  our  national  destinies, 
and  the  same  aspirations  for  our  prosperity,  min;4led 
with  warninus  against  disturbin*'  influences.  He  ex- 
liorts  that  all  our  foundations  should  be  "  laid  in  na- 
ture " ;  that  there  should  be  "  no  contention  for,  nor 
ac([uisition  of,  unecjual  domination  in  men "  ;  and 
that  union  should  be  established  on  the  attractive 
principle  by  which  all  are  drawn  to  a  common  centre. 
He  fears  dilliculty  in  making  the  line  of  frontier  be- 
tween us  and  the  liritisli  Provinces  "  a  line  of  peace," 
as  it  ought  to  be ;  he  is  anxious  lest  something  may 
break  out  between  us  and  Spain ;  and  he  suggests  that 
j)ossibly,  "  in  the  cool  hours  of  unimpassioned  rellec- 
tion,"  we  may  learn  tlie  danger  of  our  "  alliances,"  — 
reierring  plainly  to  that  original  alliance  with  France 
which,  at  a  later  day,  was  the  occasion  of  suc/i  trouble. 
Two  other  Avarnings  occur.  One  is  against  Slav(;ry, 
which  is  more  memorable,  because  in  an  earlier  me- 
morial he  enumerates  among  articles  of  connnerce 
"African  slaves  cari-ied  by  a  circuitous  trade  in  Amer- 
can  sl'.ipping  to  the  West  India  market."  ^  Tlie  other 
warning  is  tlius  strongly  expressed:  "Every  inliabi- 
tant  of  America  is,  de  facto  as  well  as  dc  Jure,  ecjual, 
in  his  essential,  inseparable  rights  of  the  individual,  to 
any  other  individual,  and  is,  in  these  rights,  indepen- 
dent of  any  power  that  any  other  can  assume  over  him, 
over  his  labor,  or  his  property.  Tliis  is  a  principle  in 
act  and  deed,  and  not  a  mere  speculative  theorem."^ 

This  strange  and  striking  testimony,  all  from  one  man, 
is  enhanced  by  his  farewell  words   to  Franklin.      As 

1  Memorial  to  the  Sovoroijrns  of  Knrope,  p.  83. 

2  Memorial  to  the  Sovereigns  of  America,  p.  55. 


w 


I 

I 


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128 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCEPvNING  AMERICA. 


Pownall  lieard  that  the  great  pliilosopher  and  negotiator 
was  about  to  embark  for  the  United  States,  he  wrote  to 
him  from  Lausanne,  3d  July,  1785  :  — 

'*  Adieu,  my  dear  friend.  You  arc  going  to  a  New  World, 
formed  to  exhibit  a  scene  which  the  Old  World  never  yet 
saw.  You  leave  me  here  in  the  Old  World,  which,  like  niv- 
self,  begins  to  feel,  as  Asia  hath  felt,  that  it  is  wearing  out 
apace.  We  shall  never  meet  again  on  this  earth  ;  but  there 
is  another  world  where  we  shall,  and  ivhere  ive  shall  be  undtr- 
stoocir 

The  correspondence  was  continued  across  the  inter- 
vening ocean.  In  a  letter  to  Fianklin,  dated  at  Bris- 
tol, 8th  April,  1788,  the  same  devoted  reformer  refers 
to  the  Congress  at  Albany  in  1754,  "  when  the  events, 
which  have  since  come  into  fact,  first  begnn  to  Juvelop 
themselves,  as  ready  to  burst  into  bloom  and  to  bring 
Ibrth  the  Iruits  of  liberty  which  you  at  i)resent  enjoy." 
He  is  cheered  in  his  old  age  by  the  proceedings  in 
the  convention  to  frame  a  constitution  with  Franklin's 
"  report  of  a  system  of  sovereignty  founded  in  law  and 
above  which  law  only  was  sovereign,"  and  he  begins 
"  to  entertain  hopes  for  the  liberties  of  America,  and 
for  what  will  be  an  asylum  one  day  or  other  to  a  rem- 
nant of  mankind  who  wish  and  deserve  to  live  with 
political  liberty."  His  disturbance  at  the  PresidenMiil 
term  breaks  out:  "I  have  some  fears  of  mischief  f;.:i 
the  orhit  of  four  years  period,  which  you  give  to  tlu 
rotation  of  the  office  of  President.  It  may  become  the 
ground  of  intrigue."^  Here  friendly  anxiety  is  ele- 
vated by  hope  where  America  appears  as  the  asylum 
of  Liberty. 

1  Franklin,  Works,  Vol.  X.  pp.  343,  344. 


GOVERNOR   POWNALL,   1785,   1788. 


129 


:ll 


Clearly  Powiiall  was  not  ini(lerstood  in  his  time  ;  but 
it  is  evident  that  he  understood  our  eountry  as  few 
Enghshnien  since  have  been  able  to  understand  it. 

How  few  of  his  contenijKn'aries  saw  America  with 
liis  insight  and  courage  !  The  ])revailing  sentiment  was 
typified  in  tlie  conduct  of  George  III.,  so  bohlly 
arraigned  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Indi- 
vidual opinions  also  attest  the  contrast  and  lielp  to 
glorify  I'ownall.  Tiius  Shirley,  lii<e  himself  a  Massa- 
chusetts governor,  in  advising  tbe  King  to  strengtlien 
Louisburg,  wrote,  under  date  of  July  lU,  1745  :  — 

"  It  wouM,  by  its  vicinity  to  the  British  colonics,  and 
being  the  key  of  'em,  give  the  crown  of  Creut  Britain  a 
most  iibsohite  hold  and  command  of  'cm,  if  ever  there 
should  come  a  time  when  they  should  go  restiff  and  dis- 
posed to  shako  off  their  dependency  upon  their  mother 
country,  the  posslhilit//  of  lohick  seems  some  centuries  further 
off  than  it  does  to  some  gentlemen  at  home.'"  ^ 

Nothing  of  the  prophet  here.  Nor  was  Hume  more 
penetrating  in  his  History  first  published,  although  he 
commemorates  properly  the  early  settlement  of  the 
country  :  — 

"  What  chieflv  renders  the  reicrn  of  James  memorable  is 
the  commencement  of  the  Enuiish  colonies  in  America ; 
colonies  established  on  the  noblest  footing  that  has  been 
known  in  any  age  or  nation 

"  Speculative  reasoning  during  that  age  raised  many  objec- 
tions to  the  planting  of  those  remote  colonics,  and  foretold 
that,  after  draining:  their  mother  countrv  of  inhabitants, 
they  would  soon  shake  off  their  yoke  and  erect  an  indepen- 
dent government  in  America ;  but  time  has  shown  that  the 

1  Pnlfrcy,  Compendious  History  of  New  Enf;land,  1728-65. 
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130 


PROPHETIC   VOICES   CONCEIINING  AMERICA. 


views  entertained  by  those  who  encouraged  such  generous 
undortaliings  were  more  just  and  solid.  A  vuld  (jovernmeut 
and  (jreat  mond  force  have  ])reserved  and  m<ii/  still  preserve 
duriiifj  some  time  the  dominion  of  J'] nj land  over  her  colonies."  ^ 

In  making  the  reign  of  James  cliietly  memorable 
by  the  colonies,  the  eminent  historian  shows  a  just 
appreciation  of  events  ;  but  he  seems  to  have  written 
hastily,  and  rather  from  imagination  than  evidence,  when 
he  announces  contemporary  2:)rophecy,  "  that,  after 
draining  their  mother  country  of  inhabitants,  they 
would  soon  shake  off  their  yoke  and  erect  an  indepen- 
dent government  in  America,"  and  is  plainly  without 
prophetic  instinct  with  regard  to  "the  dominion  of 
England  over  her  colonies." 


ii  ) 


CERISIER,  1778,  1780. 

Again  a  Frenchman  appears  on  our  list,  Antoine 
Marie  Cerisier,  who  was  born  at  Chatillon  in  the  Bresse, 
1749,  and  died  at  Paris,  1st  July,  1828,  after  a  check- 
ered existence.  Being  Secretary  of  the  French  Lega- 
tion at  the  Hague,  he  early  became  interested  in  the 
history  of  Holland  and  her  heroic  struggle  for  indepen- 
dence. An  elaborate  work  in  ten  volumes  on  the  "  Gen- 
eral History  of  the  United  Provinces,"  ^  appearing  first 
in  French  and  afterwards  translated  into  Dutch,  attests 
his  industry  and  zeal,  and  down  to  this  day  is  accepted 
as  the  best  in  French  literature  on  this  interesting  sub- 
ject. Naturally  the  historian  of  the  mighty  effort  to 
overthrow  the  domination  of  Spain  sympathized  with 
the  kindred  effort  in  America.  In  a  series  of  works  he 
bore  his  testimony  to  our  cause. 


1  History  of  England.     Appendix  to  Reign  of  James  I. 

2  Works",  Vol.  VII.  pp.  589,  500, 


IJJ , — 


C^RISIEU,   1778,   1780. 


131 


ffort  to 
Id  with 
)rks  he 


John  Atlams  was  received  at  tlie  Hague  as  Aniorican 
Minister,  I'Jtli  Ajn-il,  1782.  In  his  despatcli  to  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  IGth  ^hiy,  1782,  he  wrote  :  "  I  low 
shall  I  mention  another  gentleman,  wlio.se  name,  per- 
haps, Congress  never  lieard,  hut  who,  in  my  oi)inion, 
has  done  more  decided  and  essential  service  to  the 
American  cause  and  reputation  witiiin  these  List  eiuh- 
teen  montiis,  than  any  other  man  in  Kurope."  Then, 
after  describing  him  as  "  beyond  all  contradiction  one 
of  the  greatest  historians  and  ])olitical  cliaracters  in 
Europe,  ....  possessed  of  the  most  generous  prin- 
ciples and  sentiments  of  liberty,  and  exceedingly  de- 
voted by  principle  and  affection  to  tlie  American  cause," 
our  Minister  announces  :  "  His  pen  has  erected  a  monu- 
ment to  the  American  cause  more  glorious  and  more 
dural)le  than  brass  or  marble.  His  writings  have  been 
read  like  oracles,  and  his  sentiments  weekly  echoed  and 
re-echoed  in  gazettes  and  pamphlets."  ^  And  yet  these 
have  passed  out  of  sight. 

First  in  time  was  an  elaborate  work  in  French,  pur- 
porting to  be  translated  from  tne  English,  win  di  ap- 
peared at  Utrecht  in  1778,  entitled,  "  History  of  ^lie 
Foundation  of  the  Ancient  rie])ublics  adapted  to  the 
present  Dispute  of  Great  Ih-itain  with  the  American 
Colonies"  Learning  and  philosophy  were  elevated  by 
visions  of  the  future.  "With  the  representation  of  the 
Colonies  in  Parliament,  he  foresees  the  time  when  "  the 
influence  of  America  will  become  preponderant  in  Par- 
liament, and  ran,  perhaps,  transport  the  seat  of  empire 
to  their  country,  and  so,  without  danger  and  without 

1  Histoire  de  l.a  Fondntion  des  Ancioniips  IJf'publiqnes  adapt(?e  a  la  dis- 
pute pr^sente  de  la  Grande  Bretagne  avec  les  Colonies  Americaines.  Utrecht, 
1778. 


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132       rnoriiETic  voices  concerning  America. 

convulsive  .T'-itation,  render  tliis  immense  continent,  al- 
ready  so  favored  by  nature,  tlie  tiieatre  of  one  of  the 
greatest  and  freest  iiovernments  wliicli  ever  existed."  ^ 
Tiien,  induli^inu-  in  another  vision,  wliere  Frencli  emi- 
grants and  Canadians,  aheady  invited  to  enter  the  Con- 
federacy, mingle  with  Englisii  colonists,  he  beholds  at 
the  head  of  the  luippy  settlements  "  men  known  for 
their  superior  genius  and  their  entliusiasm  for  liberty," 
and  lie  catches  the  strains  of  ancient  dramatists,  "  whose 
masteri)ieces  will  breathe  and  inspire  the  liatred  of  ty- 
rants and  desp;jts"  Then  touching  a  practical  point  in 
government,  he  exclaims :  "  The  liuman  species  will  not 
be  degraded,  outraged  by  that  odious  and  barbarous  dis- 
tinction of  nobles  and  plebeians,  as  if  anybody  could  be 
more  or  less  than  a  man."  And  tlieu  again, "  Could  not 
that  admirable  democracy  which  I  have  so  often  pleased 
myself  in  tracing  be  established  there  ?  "  ^ 

Tiiis  was  followed  in  the  same  year  by  another  publi- 
cation, also  in  French,  entitled  "  Impartial  Observations 
of  a  True  Dutchman,  in  Answer  to  the  Address  of  a  self- 
styled  Good  Dutchman  to  his  Countrymen."  ^  Here 
there  is  no  longer  question  of  colonial  representation  in 
Parliament,  or  of  British  empire  transported  to  America, 
but  of  separation,  with  its  lofty  future :  — 

"  This  revolution  is  then  the  mos'  happy  event  which 
could  arrive  to  the  human  species  and  to  all  the  States 
separately.  In  fine,  sensitive  souls  see  with  transport  that 
the  crime  of  those  who  have  discovered  and  devastated  this 


.     1  Pa^e  155. 

2  Piijrc  176. 

8  Observations  Impartiales  cVun  Vrai  Hollanclols  pour  scrvir  dc  Reponso 
au  Disoours  d'un  soi-disant  Bon  Hollandois  a  ses  Compatriotes.  Amster- 
dam, 1778. 


C^UISIEIl,    1778,    1780. 


133 


immense  continent  is  at  last  to  be  repaired,  and  recognize 
the  United  Status  of  North  Auierica  as  replacing  the  nuiner- 
0U8  nations  which  {European  cruelty  has  caused  to  disappear 
from  Southern  America."  ^ 

Then,  addressing  j^nglislimen  directly,  the  Frenchman 
thus  counsels :  — 

•'  Englishmen  !  it  is  necessary  for  you  to  submit  to  your 
destiny,  and  renounce  people  who  do  not  wish  longer  to 
recognize  you.  To  avoid  giving  them  any  an.viety,  and  to 
prevent  all  dispute  in  the  future,  k<ive  the  courage  to  (ibundon 
to  them  the  surroiimliiKj  countries  which  have  not  t/et  thrown  ojf 

your  yoke Let  Canada  make  a  fourteenth  confederate 

i:itate.  What  glory  for  you  to  have  labored  tirst  lor  this  inter- 
esting revolution  !  What  glory  for  ycni  that  these  settlements, 
derived  from  your  bosom,  are  associated  with  a  j)owerful  con- 
federation, and  govern  themselves  as  a  llcpublic  !  " 

The  idea  of  Canada  as  a  "  fourteenth  confederate 
State  "was  in  unison  with  the  aspiration  and  invitation 
of  the  Continental  Conirress. 

Another  friendly  work  in  Frencli,  pretendiii:if  to  be 
from  the  English,  saw  the  light  in  1780,  and  is  entitled 
"  The  Destiny  of  America ;  or,  Pictorial  Dialogues."  ^ 
Among  the  parties  to  the  colloquies  are  Lord  North, 
with  other  English  personages,  and  a  Thilosopher,  who 
must  be  the  author.  Among  the  topics  considered 
are  the  causes  of  pending  events,  the  policy  of  European 
powers  relative  to  the  war,  and  the  influence  it  must 
have  on  the  happiness  of  the  Human  Family.  In  an- 
swer to  Lord  North,  who  asks  the  precious  means  to 

1  Pnpe  15. 

2  \.c  Destin  de  rAm^rique  ou  Dialogues  Pittoresques.     Londres  (Hol- 
lande),  17S0, 


«  -H 


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134 


rUOIMIETIC   VOICES   CONCEUNING   AMElilCA. 


If  :' 


I 


save  liouor  and  welfare,  ilie  Pliilosupher  replies  :  "  Com- 
inenee  by  proclaiming  Ihe  independence  of  the  thirteen 
revolted  Colonies,  of  Florida,  and  of  Canada,  and  then, 
in  u  manner  not  less  solemn,  renounce  Jamaica,  IJarba- 
does,  and  all  tlie  Windward  Isles."  ^  This  is  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  freedom  of  the  Spanish  and  French  colo- 
nies, —  als(j  oi'  tlie  Dutch,  the  Tortuguese,  and  the 
J)anish.  Tiien,  rising  in  aspiration,  the  Thilosopher, 
exalting  the  good  of  humanity  over  that  of  any  nation, 
l)roclaims  that  the  root  of  future  wars  must  be  de- 
sti'oyed,  that  the  ocean  may  not  be  reddened  with 
blood  ;  but  this  destiny  will  be  i)rolonged  "  if  America 
does  not  become  entirely  free."  ^  Then,  looking  forward 
to  the  time  when  nations  will  dispute  on  the  ocean 
only  in  commercial  activity,  and  man  will  cease  to  be 
the  greatest  enemy  of  man,  he  declares  :  "  If  Universal 
Peace  could  be  more  than  the  dream  of  good  men,  what 
event  could  accelerate  it  more  than  the  independence  of 
the  two  Americas  ?  "  ^  Confessing  that  he  does  not  ex- 
pect the  ap])lause  of  the  present  age,  he  concludes,  "  My 
heart  tells  me  that  I  shall  have  the  sujjport  of  all  free 
and  sympathetic  souls,  and  the  suffrage  of  posterity."  ^ 
Most  surely  he  has  mine.  Nothing  can  be  happier  than 
the  thought  that  Universal  Peace  would  be  accelerated 
by  American  freedom,  thus  enhancing  even  this  great 
boon. 


SIR  WILLIAM  JONES,  1781. 

I  AM  glad  to  enter  upon  our  list  the  name  of  this 
illustrious  scholar,  who  was  born  in  London,  28tli  Sep- 
tember, 1746,  and  died  in  India,  24th  April,  1794. 


1  Pape  109. 

2  Page  115. 


8  Pape  113. 
4  Page  112. 


SIR  WILLIAM   JONES,    1781. 


135 


If  others  have  excelled  Sir  Williiuii  Jones  in  (lilfer- 
ent  departments  of  human  activity,  no  Kiii^lisiiman  has 
attained  etjual  eminence  in  so  many,  and  at  tiie  same 
time  borne  the  priceless  crown  of  character.  His  won- 
derful attainments  ami  his  various  ^^enius  excite  admi- 
ration, but  his  goodness  awakens  love.  It  is  pleasant 
to  know  that  his  benediction  rests  upon  our  country. 

From  boyhood  to  his  last  breath  he  was  always  in- 
dustrious, thus  helping  the  generous  gifts  of  nature, — 
and  it  is  not  easy  to  say  where  he  was  most  eminent. 
As  a  jurist  he  is  memorable  for  the  "  Essay  on  the  Law 
of  Bailments,"  undoubteiUy  at  the  time  it  a])peared  the 
most  complete  and  beautiful  contribution  to  the  science 
of  jurisprudence  in  tlie  English  language.  As  a  judge, 
he  wjis  the  voice  of  the  law  and  of  justice,  so  that  his 
appointment  to  a  high  judicial  station  in  India  was 
called  "  the  greatest  blessing  ever  conferred  by  the  lirit- 
ish  Government  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  East."  ^  As  a 
linguist,  knowing  no  less  than  twenty-eiglit  languages, 
he  was  the  predecessor  of  Sir  Willian.  Humboldt  and 
the  less  scholarly  prodigy,  jMezzohinte,  while  as  a  phi- 
lologist he  will  find  a  parallel  in  tlie  former  rather  than 
the  latter.  As  an  Orientalist,  he  was  not  oidy  the  first 
of  his  time,  hut  the  pioneer  through  whom  the  literature 
of  the  East  was  opened  to  European  study  and  curiosity. 
As  a  poet,  he  is  enshrined  forever  by  his  Ode,  modestly 
called  "in  imitation  of  AlctTus,"^  and  doubtless  inspired 
by  sympathy  with  the  American  cause. 

"  What  constitutes  a  State? 
Not  hiph-raised  battlement  on  labored  mound, 
Thick  wall  or  moated  pate; 
NO;  men,  high-minded  men, 


:a 


1  Meadley'i?  Memoirs  of  Paley,  p.  221. 

2  Dated  Abergavenny,  March  31,  1781. 


n 


k  k 


13G  ritOPIlETIC   VOICES   CONCEUNING   AMERICA. 

Men,  wlio  tlioir  duties  know 
But  know  tlii'ir  rij^lit-i,  and,  knowing,  dure  miiintaiu; 

J'revtnt  (lie  Uimj-dinwil  hloio, 
And  crush  tht  tijninl  while  Ihty  retul  the  chain ;  — 

These  constitute  a  State. " 

To  all  th(3su  accoinplishineiits  add  the  glowing,'  oino- 
tioriH  of  his  iioblu  nature,  his  love  of  virtue,  his  devo- 
tion to  freedom,  his  .sympathy  for  the  poor  and  down- 
trodden. His  bioj^rapher  records  as  "  a  favorite  opinion 
of  Sir  William  Jones,  that  all  num  are  born  with  <i)i 
equal  capacitij  for  improvcvioU,"  ^  and  also  reports  him 
as  sayin*^',  "  1  see  clearly  under  the  sun  tlie  two  classes 
of  men  whom  Solomon  describes,  the  oppressor  and  the 

oppressed I  shall  cultivate  my  fields  and  think 

as  little  as  possil)le  of  monarchs  or  oli^^archs."  ^  With 
these  declarations  it  is  easy  to  credit  Dr.  Paley,  who 
said  of  him,  "  He  was  a  great  republican  when  I  knew 
him."^  Like  seeks  like,  and  a  lone;  intimacy  in  the 
family  of  the  good  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  ending  in  a 
happy  marriage  with  his  eldest  daugliter,  shows  how  he 
must  have  sympathized  witli  the  American  cause  and 
with  the  future  of  our  country. 

Our  author  had  been  the  tutor  of  Lord  Althorp,  the 
same  who,  as  Earl  Spencer,  became  so  famous  a  biblio- 
phile and  a  patron  of  Dibdin,  and  on  the  marriage  of 
his  pupil  witli  Miss  Lavinia  Brigham,  he  was  moved  to 
commemorate  it  in  a  poem,  entitled  "  The  Muse  Kecalled  ; 
an  Ode  on  the  Nuptials  of  Lord  Viscount  Althorp  and 
Miss  La^  inia  Brigham,  eldest  Daughter  of  Charles  Lord 
Lucon,  March  G,  1781,"  which  his  critic,  Wraxall,  calls 
"  one  of  the  most  beautiful  lyric  productions  in  the 

1  Teif^month's  Life  of  Sir  William  Jones,  p.  406. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  365. 

•  Meadley's  Memoirs  of  Paley,  p.  221. 


RIU  WILLIAM  JONES,   1781. 


137 


I    !-' 


English  lan^iiaf,'(',  emulating,'  at  onco  lliu  lame  of  Mil- 
ton and  of  dniy."^  IJut  buyond  the  strain  of  personal 
syniiiathy,  con;^enial  to  the  occasion,  was  a  passiun  for 
America,  and  tlie  |)r()i)hetic  spirit  wliich  belongs  to  the 
l)oet.  After  lanienting  (liat  "  freedom  and  concord  rc- 
piuliate  the  sons  of  Albion,"  all  the  virtues  disapjiear. 

" 'rnitli,  Justice,  INfiisoti,  Valor,  with  tlioiii  fly, 
To  M'ok  II  iJiircr  soil,  ii  more  coiigciiiiil  sky." 

Ihit  the  soil  and  sky  which  they  seek  arc  of  the 
Delaware :  — 

"  Uoyoiid  the  vast  Atlantic  t\vc\) 

A  (lotiic  by  viewless  j^eiiii  shall  ho  raised, 
The  walls  of  ailaniaiit,  compact  nml  steep. 

The  portals  with  sky-tiiirturod  gems  emblazed. 
There,  on  a  lofty  throne  shall  Virtue  stand; 
To  her  the  youth  of  Delaware  shall  kneel; 
And  when  her  smiles  rain  plenty  o'er  the  land, 
Bow,  tyrants,  bow  beneath  the  '  aven;;ini,'  .--teel.' 
Commerce  with  Jhets  sluill  mocL  tlie  wares, 
And  arts  that  flourish  not  tcitli  slaves, 
Dnncin;!  villi  ervri)  Grace  awl  .]fiisi , 
Shall  bid  the  valltys  iiiitjh  anil  heartn.'ij  bcnmi^  dlJJ'use." 

Wraxall  complains,^  tliat  here,  in  a  fine  frenzy  of 
inspiration,  the  poet  seems  to  behold,  as  in  a  vision, 
Wasliingtrm  and  Congress  exulting  in  tlie  overthrow  of 
all  subjection  to  Great  liritain,  wliile  (jeorge  III.  is 
pretty  clearly  designated  in  the  apostro])]ie  to  tyrants. 
Ihit  to  an  American  the  most  ca[)tivating  verses  are 
those  which  open  the  vista  of  peaceful  trium])hs  where 
commerce  and  the  arts  unite  with  every  Grace  and 
every  Muse. 

Kindred  in  sentiment  were  other  contemporary  verses 
by  the  anonymous  author  of  the  "  Heroic  Epistle  to  Sir 

1  Historical    Memoirs  of  his  own  Time,  Vol.  II.   p.  378,  Marrh,  1781 
(ed.  London,  1836). 

2  Ibid.,  p.  379. 


V , 


,r'i 


'i"' 


M 


'.  ''I'i 


m 

r.' 
■  t^i 
J'? 


:  flj; 


138 


rilOIMlfTIC   VOICKS   CONCF.IININO   AMKUICA. 


Williiim  ('liuinlM'rs,"  now  iindcTstood  to  bo  tlio  poot 
Miisoii/  which  Wmxiill  pniisus  lor  their  heiuity,  hut 
conihuiiiis  for  their  politii's.''^  After  deseriltin^'  th(5  cor- 
rii|tti()ii  of  Ihe  House  of  ('ominous  iiiider  Lord  Xorth, 
tliu  i)oet  deehires  thiit  it  will  au,i,'iiieiit  in  enormity  and 
l)rolliL;ac"y,  — 

"Till,  niockcil  nndjiidiv!  witli  tho  pnppot  pliiy, 
01(1  Kiij^laiidN  ^'Chilis  turns  witii  scoiji  uwiiy, 
AsccikU  lii>  micrcil  hiirk,  tho  miiU  uiil'iirlM, 
Aiifl  stiers  hit  State  to  thv  iviile   WisIch'h  World. 
Utah  on  tlu!  helm  niiij(!slic  Fri'i'ildni  stands, 
In  net  of  cold  contcniiit  sho  wtives  her  hands; 
Take,  slaves,  sho  cries,  tho  realms  that  I  disown, 
Re.iounco  your  birthright  and  destroy  my  throne!  " 

TIio  two  poets  united  in  a  connnon  cause.  One  trans- 
ported to  tiic  other  side  of  tlie  Atlantic  the  virtues 
which  had  been  the  j,dory  of  Hritain,  and  the  other  car- 
ried there  nothiu},'  less  than  tho  sovereij,'!'  i^enius  of  the 
great  nation  itself. 

COUNT  ARANDA,    1783. 

The  Count  Aranda  was  one  of  the  first  of  Spanish 
statesmen  and  diplomatists,  and  one  of  the  richest  sub- 
jects of  Spain  in  his  day;  born  at  Sara^ossa,  1718,  and 
died  1799.  lie,  too,  is  one  of  our  proi)hets.  Originally 
a  soldier,  he  became  ambassador,  governor  of  a  province, 
and  prime  minister.  In  the  latter  post  he  dispkyed 
character  as  well  as  ability,  and  was  the  benefactor  of 
his  country.  He  drove  the  Jesuits  from  Spain  and 
dared  to  oppose  the  Inquisition.  Ho  was  a  philoso- 
pher, and,  like  Pope  Benedict  XIV.,  corresponded  with 
Voltaire.      Such  a  liberal  spirit  was  out  of  place   in 

1  Walpole's  Last  .Tournnls,  Vol.  I.  p.  1S7,  March,  1773. 

2  Historical  Memoirs,  Vol.  II.  p.  77,  March,  1781. 


■■*—--- 


COUNT   AH  AN  DA,    1783. 


mo 


loso- 
with 
,Q  in 


Spain.  •CoiiiiK'lltMl  to  rcsi^Mi  in  ITT'J,  \n'  foinMl  a  rctrout 
at  I'aris  MS  jinihassiuldr,  nvImtu  lie  iMiiu'  into  (;omnmni- 
catioii  villi  I'ViUikliii,  Atkinis,  and  Jay,  and  tiiially 
signed  the  Troaty  of  Paris,  by  ^vlli(.•h  Spain  ackiiowl- 
edj^(!(l  our  independence.  Shortly  al'terwards  ho  ru- 
turned  to  Spain  and  took  tla;  place;  of  i'lorida  illanea 
ns  prime  nnnister.  lie  was  un»ithatically  a  stattisnian, 
aiul  as  siu'h  did  not  hesitate  to  take  responsiliility  even 
contrary  to  e.\i)ress  orders.  An  instane(!  of  this  civic 
coura^'e  was  wlu;n,  for  the  .sake  of  ])eaee  lie'tween  Sjtain 
and  Kn^land,  he  accepted  tiie  Fioridas  instead  of  (lih- 
rallar,  on  which  the  eminent  French  publicist,  M.  Itay- 
neval,  remarks  that  *•  history  furnishes  few  examples 
of  such  a  character  and  such  l(»yalty."  * 

Franklin,  on  nuMitin;^'  him,  records,  in  his  letter  to 
the  secret  comi  litteo  of  (,'on;.frc.ss,  that  he  seemed  "well 
dispo.sed  to  us."  ^  Shortly  afterwards  ho  had  another 
interview  wit'.i  him,  which  he  thus  chronicles  in  his 
journal : — 

"  Satunhti/,  June  20th  [1782].  —Wc  went  to<,'cthor  to  tho 
Spanish  Ambassador's,  who  roccivqd  us  with  jjjreat  civility 
and  politeness.     He  spoke  with  Mr.  Jay  on  the  subject  of 

the  treaty  they  were  to  make  toj^ethor On  our  {»'oing 

out,  he  took  pains  himself  to  open  the  foldin^^-doors  for  \is, 
which  is  a  hij»h  complinicnt  here,  and  toUl  us  he  would  ro- 
tnrn  our  visit  {rendtr  son.  devoir),  and  then  fix  a  day  with  us 
for  dining  with  him.''  ' 

Adams,  in  his  journal,  describes  a  Sunday  dinner  at 
his  house,  then  a  "  new  building  in  the  finest  situation 
of  Paris,"  *  being  part  of  the  incomparable  palace,  with 

1  Institutions  flu  Droit  de  la  Nature  et  des  Gens,  Tom.  II.  p.  311. 
a  Works,  Vol   VIIT.  p.  194. 
8  Works,  Vol.  IX.  p.  350. 
4  Works,  Vol.  III.  p.  379. 


'V 


•  i    1 1 


I   ! 

'     I* 
I  I'll 


I 


•i:. 


■ft 

m 


140 


rnOPIIETIC   VOICES   concerning   AMERICA. 


! ;  n 


'ts  columnar  front,  still  admired  as  it  looks  on  the  Place 
de  la  Concorde.  Jav  also  describes  a  dinner  with  the 
Count,  who  was  "living  in  great  splendor,  with  an  assort- 
ment of  wines  tlie  finest  in  Europe,"  and  was"  tlie  ablest 
Spaniard  he  had  ever  known  ";  sliowing  by  his  conversa- 
tion "  that  his  court  is  in  earnest,"  and  ap])earing"  frank 
and  candid,  as  well  as  sagacious."  ^  These  hos|)italitics 
have  a  peculiar  interest,  when  it  is  known,  as  it  now  is, 
that  Count  Arandii  regarded  the  acknowledgment  of  our 
independence  x.ith  "grief  and  dread."  Ihit  these  senti- 
ments were  disguised  from  our  ministers. 

After  signing  tlie  Tieaty  of  l*aris,  by  which  Spain 
acknowledged  our  independence,  Aranda  addressed  a 
memoir  secretly  to  King  Charles  III.,  in  which  his 
opinions  on  this  event  are  set  forth.  This  prophetic 
document  slumbered  for  a  hmg  time  in  the  confidential 
archives  of  the  Spanish  crown.  Coxe,  in  his  "  jNIemoirs 
of  the  House  of  Bourbon  in  Spain,"  which  are  founded 
on  a  rare  collection  of  original  documents,  makes  no 
allusion  to  it.  The  memoir  appears  for  the  first  time 
in  a  volume  puljlished  at  Paris  in  1837,  and  entitled 
"  Gouvcriicment  dc  Charles  III.,  Roi  cVEspngne,  on  In- 
struction re'scrvsG  a  la  Junte  cVrJtat  par  cc  Monarquc. 
Piihiie  par  I).  Andr^  Muriel."  The  editor  liad  translated 
into  P'ronch  the  ]Memoirs  of  Coxe,  and  was  probalily  led 
by  this  labor  to  make  tlie  supplementary  collection.  An 
abstract  of  the  memoir  of  Arandr  appears  in  one  of  the 
historical  dissertations  of  the  Mexican  authority,  Ala- 
man,  who  said  of  it  that  it  has  "a  just  celebrity,  because 
results  have  made  it  pass  for  a  prophecy."  ^  I  translate 
it  now  from  the  French  of  Aluriel. 


1  William  .Tny,  Life  of  .lolin  .Tay,  Vol.  I.  p.  140  ;  Vol.  II.  p.  101. 

2  Dispertaciones  sobre  la  Historia  de  la  Rojiublica  Megicana,  Tom.  III.  pp. 
851,  352. 


COUNT   AUANDA,   1783. 


141 


** Memoir  comrmmicated  seortl//  to  the  King  hy  his  Excellency 
the  Count  Arnnda,  on  the  Independence  of  the  Enf/Utih 
Colonies,  after  haviw)  signed  the  Trtaty  of  Paris  of  1783. 

"  Tlic  iiidcpeiiclcncc  of  the  Englisli  colonies  has  been 
ncknowlod^ed.  'I'his  is  for  me  an  occasion  of  {^rief  and 
dread.  France  has  few  possessions  in  America  ;  but  slie 
sliould  liavo  considered  that  Spain,  her  intimate  ally,  has 
many,  and  that  she  is  left  to-day  ex])osed  to  terrible  shocks. 
From  the  beufiiminj^,  France  h:is  acted  contrary  to  her  true 
interest.-!  m  enconraging  and  secon(hnj>;  tliis  independence ;  I 
have  so  declared  often  to  the  ministers  of  this  nation.  Wl)at 
conld  happen  better  fur  France  than  to  sec  the  lMiji,lish  and 
the  colonists  destroy  each  other  in  a  pai'ty  warfare  which 
could  only  angment  iier  powc"  and  favor  her  interests'?  Tho 
antipathy  which  reigns  between  France  and  Fiigland  blinded 
the  French  ('abinet  ;  it  forgot  that  its  interest  consisted  in 
remaining  a  trancpiil  spectator  of  this  conflict  ;  and,  onco 
launched  in  tlic  arena,  it  dragged  us  unha|)pily,  and  by  vir- 
tue of  the  familv  com|)act,  into  a  war  cntirelv  contrary  to  our 
proper  interest. 

"  I  will  not  stop  hero  to  c:iamine  the  opinions  of  some 
statesmen,  our  own  countrymen  as  well  as  foreigners,  which 
I  share,  on  the  difiicuUi/  of  preserving  ovr  poioer  in  America. 
Never  have  so  extensive  posse.ssifinf),  placed  at  a  great  distance 
from  the  m-dropolis,  been  I'nig  preserved.  To  this  cause,  appli- 
cable to  all  colonies,  must  bo  added  others  peculiar  to  the 
Spanish  possessions  ;  namely,  tho  diliiculty  of  succoring  them 
in  case  of  need  ;  the  vexations  to  which  the  unhapin'  inhab- 
itants have  been  exposed  from  some  of  tlic  governors  ;  the 
distance  of  the  supremo  auth<.;rity  to  which  they  must  have 
rccourso  for  the  redress  of  grievances,  winch  causes  years  to 
pass  before  justice  is  done  to  their  complaints;  the  vengeance 
of  the  local  authorities  to  which  they  continue  exposed  whilo 
waiting  ;  the  difficulty  of  knowing  the  truth  at  so  great  a  dis- 


■! 


1 ' 


( 

f 

I 


.? 


142 


PROPHETIC  VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


I*  H: 


f 


m 


!i  m 


i!i 


tancc  ;  finally,  the  means  which  the  viccroya  and  governors, 
from  bcin"  Spaniards,  cannot  fail  to  have  for  obtaining 
favorable  |udgnients  in  S[)ain ;  all  these  different  circum- 
stances will  render  the  inhabitants  of  America  discontented, 
and  make  them  attempt  efforts  to  obtain  independence  as 
soon  as  they  shall  have  a  propitious  occasion. 

"  Without  entering  into  any  of  these  considerations,  I  shall 
confine  myself  now  to  that  which  occupies  us  from  the  dread 
of  seeing  ourselves  exposed  to  dangers  from  the  new  power 
which  we  have  just  recognized  in  a  country  where  there  is  no 
other  in  condition  to  arrest  its  progress.  This  Federal  lie- 
public  is  horn  a  pygmy,  so  to  speak.  It  required  the  sup- 
port and  the  forces  of  two  powers  as  great  as  Spain  and 
France  in  order  to  attain  independence.  A  day  vill  come 
when  it  will  he  a  giant,  even  a  colossus  forniidaJtle  in  these 
connfries.  It  will  then  forget  the  benefits  which  it  has  re- 
ceived from  the  two  powers,  and  will  dream  of  nothing  but 
to  organize  itself.  Liberty  of  conscience,  the  facility  for  estab- 
lishing a  new  ^lopnlation  on  immense  lands,  as  well  as  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  neio  gor'ernment,  will  draw  thither  agricidturists 
and  artisans  from  all  the  nations;  for  men  always  run  after 
fortune.  And  in  a  few  years  we  shall  see  with  true  grief  the 
tyrannical  existence  of  this  same  colossus  of  which  I  speak. 

*'  The  first  movement  of  this  power,  when  it  has  arrived 
at  its  aggrandizement,  will  be  to  obtain  possession  of  the 
Floridas,  in  order  to  dominate  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  After 
having  rendered  commerce  with  New  Spain  difficult  for  us, 
it  will  aspire  to  the  conquest  of  this  vast  empire,  which  it 
w'ill  not  be  possible  for-  us  to  defend  against  a  formidable 
power  established  on  the  same  continent,  and  in  its  neigh- 
borhood. These  fears  are  well  founded.  Sire ;  they  will  be 
changed  into  reality  in  a  few  years,  if,  indeed,  there  are  not 
other  disorders  in  our  Americas  still  more  fatal.  This  obser- 
vation is  justified  by  what  has  happened  in  all  ages,  and  with 
all  nations  which  have  begun  to  rise.    Man  is  the  same  every- 


COUNT   ARANDA,   1763. 


143 


3er- 
ith 
;ry- 


wherc ;  the  rliffbroncc  of  climate  docs  not  change  the  nature 
of  our  sentiments  ;  he  who  finds  the  oi)portunity  of  acquiring 
power  and  of  aggrandizing  himself,  profits  by  it  always.  How 
then  can  we  expect  the  Americans  to  respect  the  kingdom  of 
New  Spain,  when  they  shall  have  the  facility  of  ])ossessing 
themselves  of  this  rich  and  beautiful  country  1  A  wise  policy 
counsels  us  to  take  precautions  against  evils  which  may  hap- 
j)en.  This  thought  has  occupied  my  whole  mind,  since,  as 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  your  Majesty,  and  conformably 
to  your  royal  will  and  instructions,  I  signed  the  Peace  of 
Paris.  I  have  considered  this  important  affair  with  all  the 
attention  of  which  I  am  capable,  and  after  nuich  reflection 
drawn  from  the  knowledge,  military  as  well  as  political, 
which  I  have  been  able  to  acquire  in  my  long  career,  I  think 
that,  in  order  to  escape  the  great  losses  with  which  we  are 
threatened,  there  remains  nothing  but  the  moans  which  I  am 
about  to  have  the  honor  of  exhibiting  to  your  Majesty. 

"Your  Majesty  must  relieve  yourself  of  all  your  posses- 
sions on  the  continent  of  the  two  Americas,  /nrserviiif/  only 
the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  in  the  northern  part,  and 
some  other  convenient  one  in  the  southern  part,  to  serve  as 
a  seaport  or  trading-place  for  Spanish  commerce. 

"  In  order  to  accomplish  this  great  thougiit  in  a  manner 
becomr  g  to  Spain,  three  infants  must  be  placed  in  America, 
—  one  as  king  of  Mexico,  another  as  king  of  Peru,  and  the 
third  as  king  of  the  Terra  Firma.  Your  Majesty  will  take 
the  title  of  Emperor." 

I  have  sometimes  heard  tliis  remarkable  memoir 
called  apocryphal,  but  without  reason,  except  because 
its  foresiuht  is  so  remarkable.  The  ]\rcxicaii  historian 
Alaman  treats  it  as  genuine,  and,  after  praising  it,  in- 
forms us  that  the  proposition  of  Count  Aranda  to  the 
king  was  not  taken  into  consideration,  which,  according 
to  him,  was  "  disastrous  to  all,  and  especially  to  the  peo- 


%^ 

if 

.■        1  • 


144 


PROniETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING  AMERICA. 


])le  of  America,  Avlio  in  tliis  way  would  have  obtained 
independence  without  struggle  or  anarchy.^  Mcan- 
wliile  all  the  American  possessions  of  thv.  Spanish 
crown,  except  Cuba  and  Porto  liico,  liavc  become  inde- 
pendent, as  predicted,  and  the  new  power,  known  as 
the  United  States,  wiiich  at  that  time  was  a  "l>ygmy,"  is 
a  "colossus." 

In  proposing  a  tlirone  for  Spanish  America,  Aranda 
was  preceded  by  no  less  a  person  than  the  great  French 
en''ineer  and  fort-builder,  Marshal  Vaul)an,  wlio,  during 
tlie  reverses  of  tlie  war  of  the  Spanisli  Succession,  sub- 
mitted to  tlie  court  of  France  that  Philip  the  Fifth 
sliould  be  sent  to  reign  in  America,  and  the  king  is  said 
to  have  consented.^ 

Aranda  was  not  alone  in  surprise  at  the  course  of 
Spain.  The  English  traveller  Purnaby,  in  his  edition 
of  1706,  mentions  this  as  one  of  the  reasons  for  the 
success  of  tlie  CoLmists,  and  declares  that  he  had  not 
supposed,  originally,  "that  Spain  would  join  in  a  plan 
inevitably  leading  by  slow  and  imperceptible  steps  to 
the  final  loss  of  all  her  rich  po.ssessions  in  America."^ 
This  was  not  an  uncommon  idea.  The  same  anxieties 
appeared  in  one  of  Mr.  Adams's:  Dutch  correspondents, 
whose  report  of  fearful  prophecies  has  been  already 
mentioned.*  John  Adams  also  records  in  his  diary,  un- 
der date  of  14th  December,  1779,  on  landing  at  Ferrol 
in  Spain,  that,  according  to  the  report  of  various  per- 
sons, "  the  Spanish  nation  in  general  have  been  of  opin- 
ion that  the  llevolution  in  America  was  of  bad  example 

1  Alaman,  Discrtnciones,  Tom.  III.  p  333. 

2  Voltaire,  Sieclc  de  Louis  XIV.,  Chap.  XXI.  :  (Eiivres,  Tom.  XXIII.  p. 
336  (c(l.  17F5). 

8  Travels  in  North  America,  Preface,  p.  10. 
*  Ante,  pp.  5G-58. 


WILLIAM   PALEY,   1785. 


145 


to  the  Spaiiisli  colonies,  and  clanf;orou.s  to  tlie  interests 
of  Spain,  as  tlie  Tnited  States,  should  they  become  am- 
bitious, and  be  seized  with  the  s])ii'it  of  C()n(]uest,  might 
aim  at  INIexico  and  Teru."  ^  All  this  is  entirely  in  har- 
mony with  the  memoir  of  the  Spanish  statesman. 


i   t! 
i  1 

I: 

'  U 


fi 


li 


r 


WILLIAM   PALKV,    1785. 

AViTll  the  success  of  the  American  Ilevolution  jm)- 
phecy  entered  other  s])heres,  and  here  we  welcome  a 
remarkable  writer,  the  Jfev.  William  Taley,  an  JMi^^lish 
divine,  M'ho  was  born  July,  1743,  and  died  25tli  ^Nlay, 
1805.  lie  is  known  for  various  works  of  great  contem- 
porary re})ute,  all  commended  by  a  style  of  singular 
transparency  and  admiral)ly  adaj)ted  to  the  level  of 
opinion  at  the  time.  If  they  are  gradually  vanishing 
from  sight,  it  is  because  otlier  woi-ks,  es])ecially  in  plii- 
losophy,  are  more  satistVictory  and  touch  higlier  chords. 

His  earliest  considerable  work,  and  for  a  long  period 
a  popular  text-book  of  education,  was  tlie  well-known 
"  Principles  of  IMoral  and  Political  Philosophy,"  whicli 
first  ai)peared  in  1785.  Here,  with  grave  errors  and  a 
reprehensible  laxity  on  certain  toj^ics,  he  did  much  for 
truth.  The  clear  vision  witli  which  he  saw  the  enor- 
mity of  slavery  was  not  disturbed  l>y  any  prevailing 
interest  at  home,  and  he  constantlv  testified  against  it. 
American  Independence  furnished  occasion  for  a  pro- 
phetic aspiration  of  more  than  common  value,  because 
embodied  in  a  work  of  morals  especially  for  tlie  young. 

"  The  great  revolution  which  has  taken  place  in  the  West- 
ern World  may  probabl}'  conduce  (and  who  knows  but  that 
it  was   designed  1)  to  accelerate  the  fall  of  this  abominable 

1  Works,  Vol.  TIL  p  234. 


^M 


nj 


14G 


rROPIIKTIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


lyrannt/ ;  and  now  that,  this  contest,  and  the  passions  wliich 
attend  it,  aj-e  no  more,  there  may  succeed  jjcrhaps  ii  season  fur 
reflecting,  whether  a  legislatui'e,  whicli  had  so  h)ng  lent  its 
assistance  to  the  snjiport  of  an  institiitioii  replete  with  human 
misery,  was  tit  to  be  trusted  with  an  empire  the  most  exten- 
sive that  ever  obtained  in  any  age  or  quarter  of  the  world."  ^ 

In  tlius  associating  Enumcipatioii  with  American  Tn- 
dei)endenco,  the  phiIoso])her  became  an  unconscious 
associate  of  Lafayette,  Avho,  on  the  consummation  of 
peace,  invited  Washington  to  this  beneficent  enterprise, 
aks  !  in  vaiu.^ 

I'aley  did  not  confine  his  testimony  to  the  pages  of 
philosophy,  but  o])enly  united  with  the  Abolitionists  of 
the  (lay.  To  helj)  the  movement  against  the  slave-trade, 
he  encountered  the  claim  of  jiccmviavy  comj^cnsation  for 
the  partakers  in  the  traffic,  by  a  brief  essay,  in  1780, 
entitled  "Arguments  against  the  unjust  Pretensions  of 
Slave  Dealers  and  Holders  to  be  indemnified  by  pecuni- 
ary Allowances  at  the  public  Expense,  in  Case  the 
Slave-Trade  should  be  abolished."  ^  This  was  sent  to 
the  Al)olition  Committee,  by  whom  the  sul)stance  was 
presented  to  the  public;  but  unhap})ily  the  essay  was 
lost  or  mislaid. 

His  honorable  interest  in  the  cause  was  attested  by  a 
speech  at  a  ])ublic  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  Carlisle,- 
over  whicli  he  pr^'sided,  Dth  February,  1792.  Here  he 
denounced  the  slave-trade  as  that  "  diabolical  traffic," 
and  by  a  ])lain  similitude,  as  applicable  to  slavery  as  to 
the  trade  in  slaves,  held  it  up  to  judgment :  — 

1  ]\Ioral  and  Politico]  Thilopopliy,  IJonk  III.  Part  2,  Chap.  3:  "  Slavery." 
"  Correspondence  of  the  American  Revolution:    Letters  to  Washington 
(ed.  Sparks),  Vol.  III.  p.  Ml. 
3  Meadley,  Memoirs  of  Paley,  p.  151. 


BUUNS,    17SS. 


147 


"  None  will  surely  plead  in  favor  of  scalpinj?.  liut.  sup- 
po.se  scalps  should  become  of  recpiest  in  Europe,  and  a  trade 
in  them  he  carried  on  with  tiie  American  Indians,  mi^dit  it 
not  bo  Justly  said  that  the  Europeans,  hy  their  trade  in 
scalps,  did  all  they  could  to  perpetuate  amon.i,'  the  natives 
of  America  the  inhuman  practice  of  scalping  ]"  ^ 

Stran^t^o  that  the  ])hilos()plier  who  extenuated  duciUiriL,^ 
sliould  have  been  so  true  and  lotty  against  slavery. 
For  this  at  least  he  deserves  our  grateful  i)raise. 


BURNS,  1788. 

From  Count  Aranda  to  liobert  lUirns,  —  from  the 
rich  and  titled  minister,  iaring  sumptuously  in  the  best 
house  of  Paris,  to  the  poor  ])loug]d)oy  poet,  struggling 
in  a  cottage,  —  what  a  contrast!  And  there  is  contrast 
also  between  him  and  the  philosopher  nestling  in  the 
English  Church.  Of  the  poet  I  say  nothing,  exoe[)t  that 
he  v.-as  born  25th  January,  17o9,  and  died  21st  July, 
1796,  in  the  thirty-seventh  year  of  his  age. 

There  is  only  a  slender  thread  of  Burns  to  be  woven 
into  this  web,  and  yet,  coming  from  him,  it  must  not  be 
neglected.  In  a  letter  dated  8th  Xovember,  1788,  after 
a  friendly  word  for  the  unfortunate  house  of  Stuart,  he 
prophetically  alludes  to  American  independence:  — 

*'  I  will  not,  I  cannot,  enter  into  the  merits  of  the  causo, 
but  I  dare  say  the  American  Congress,  in  1770,  will  be 
allowed  to  be  as  able  and  as  enlightened  as  the  En^^lish  Con- 
vention was  in  1G88  ;  and  tluit  their  2^osterit!/  vj'dl  celebrate  the 
centenary  of  their  deliverance  from  ns,  as  dnhj  and  .nnrcrehf  as 
ive  do  ours  from  the  oppressive  measures  of  the  house  <f  Stuart 


"  2 


1  Meadley,  Memoirs  of  Palcv,  p.  38.3.    Appendix  G. 

2  Carrie,  Life  and  Works  of  Burns,  p.  266.    Grahiime,  History  of  United 
States,  Vol.  IV.  p.  462. 


'^•m' 


m\ 


rllL 


M 


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'j.'.< 


^iM 


us 


I'Uol'liKTlc   VOICKS   CONCKUNING  AMKUIUA. 


Tho,  yt'ar  1 7SS,  wIhmi  tliose  words  were  written,  was  a 
year  of  coinmemoratioii,  bein^'  tlie  hundredth  I'roni  tlie 
i'anious  revohition  by  wlii(,'h  the  Stuarts  were  excluded 
i'roni  the  tlu'one  of  Kngland.  Tlie  "  eentenary  "  of  our 
iii(U.'i»eii(U'nL'e  is  not  yet  completed  ;  but  long  ago  tiie 
conmienioration  began.  On  the  coming  of  tliat  liun- 
dredtli  anniversary,  tiie  prophecy  of  IJurns  will  be  more 
tlian  fuliilled. 

This  aspiration,  is  in  harmony  witli  the  address  to 
George  J II.  in  the  "Dream,"  after  the  loss  of  the 
Colonies :  — 

"  Your  royal  nest,  benesvth  your  wiiip, 
Is  o'en  right  reft  and  clouted  " ;  — 

meaning  broken  and  patched ;  also  with  the  obnoxious 
toast  he  gave  at  a  supper,  "  May  our  success  in  the 
present  war  be  equal  to  the  justice  of  our  cause"  ;^ 
and  also  with  the  "Ode  on  the  American  War,"^  be- 
ginning, — 

"  No  Spartan  tube,  no  Attic  shell, 
No  lyre  Kolian,  I  awake; 
'T  is  Liberty's  bold  note  I  swell; 
Thy  harp,  Columbia,  let  me  take." 

How  natural  for  the  great  poet,  who  had  pictured  the 
sublime  brotherhood  of  man  :  — 

"  Then  let  us  pray,  that  come  it  may, 
And  come  it  will,  for  a'  that. 
That  man  to  man,  the  wide  world  o'er. 
Shall  brothers  be  and  a'  that.' 

1  The  MS.  of  a  letter  from  Burns,  mentioning  the  incident,  is  preserved 
by  Stevens  in  his  Bibliotheca  Geo<:jraphica,  Part  I.  p.  58  (1872). 
"'■2  Ibid.,  p.  57. 
^  B^ranger  reproduced  the  same  life-giving  cosmopolitan  sentiment:  — 

"  Peuplos.  formez  une  sainto  alliance, 
Et  donnez-vous  la  main." 


UICIIAIU)   lUUNSLKY   SHKUIOAN,    IVM. 


140 


RICIIAKI)    IJHIXSLKV   SIIKUIDAN,    17l»4. 

SiiEKlDAN  was  a  genius,  wlio  uuitiHl  tlio  [Kilm  of  cilo- 
queiicu  ill  Parliament  with  that  other  palm  won  at  the 
tiieatre.  His  speeches  and  his  i>hiys  excited  ('([ual  ap- 
l)hiuse.  The  House  of  Commons  and  I )iiiiy  Lane  were 
the  scenes  of  liis  famous  hil)ors,  while  society  enjoyed 
his  graceful  wit.  He  was  born  in  I)ul»lin,  Septemher, 
1751,  and  died  in  London,  July  7th,  ISKI. 

I  quote  now  from  a  speech  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, 21st  January,  17*J-4. 

"  America  reniiiins  neutral,  prosperous,  and  iit  peace ! 
America,  with  a  wisdom,  prudence,  and  magnannnity  which 
wo  have  disdained,  tlu'ives  at  this  moment  in  a  state  of 
envied  tran(piillity,  and  is  hourly  dec  iiif/  t^'c  jnitks  of  'un- 
bounded opulence.  America  has  monopolized  tlie  commerce 
and  the  advantages  which  wo  have  abandoned.  (),  turn 
your  eyes  to  her ;  view  her  situation,  her  happiness,  her 
content;  observe  her  trade  and  her  manufactures  adding 
daily  to  iior  general  credit,  to  her  private  enjoyments,  and 
to  her  public  resources,  her  name  and  (government  rixlnif  above 
the  nations  of  Europe  with  a  simple  but  command in(f  di<inlty, 
that  ivins  at  once  the  respect,  the  confidence,  and  the  affection 
of  the  ivorld.^^  ^ 

Here  is  true  respect  and  sympath}'»  for  our  country, 
with  a  forecast  of  increasing  prosperity,  and  an  image  of 
her  attitude  among  the  nations.  It  is  pleasant  to  enroll 
the  admired  author  of  "  The  liivals  "  and  "  The  School 
for  Scandal "  in  this  catalogue. 


.     I 


if! 


^  J'  r 


■         V-  ■ 
illl 


1  Hansard,  Parliamentary  History,  Vol.  XXX.  pp.  1219,  1220. 


Hi 

r 

11 

i 

1 

1 

f 

1 

ii 

1 

1 

1 

" 

rl 

i 

[  t 

i{  1  ^' 

m 

i',f 


150 


riiOl'lIIiTlU   VUlCKS   t'ONCEUNING   AMLlilCA. 


FOX,  1791. 


In  ([iKjLiii;^'  IVoiii  (Jliiirles  .liUiHis  Fox,  the  statesniiin, 
minister,  and  oiiitui-,  I  lu'cd  add  ii()lliii%  except  tluit  lie 
was  born  24Lli  daiiiiary,  1741»,  and  died  lljtii  Hejitember, 
ISOli,  and  that  lie  was  an  e.'irly  friend  of  our  country. 

]\Iany  words  of  his,  es])ecially  duriuj^'  our  IJevolution, 
mi^ht  be  introduced  here  ;  but  1  content  iny.self  with  a 
single  ))assa|4e  of  later  date,  which,  besides  its  expression 
of  «.»o(td-will,  is  a  prophecy  of  our  power.  It  is  found  in 
a  speech  ou  his  motion  for  i)utting  an  end  to  war  with 
France  in  the  House  of  Commons,  30th  May,  1704. 

**  It  WHS  impossible  to  disscinblo  that  wo  hud  a  serious  dis- 
pute with  America,  and  althouj^h  we  might  be  contidcnt 
that  the  wisest  and  best  man  of  his  age,  who  presided  in  the 
government  of  that  country,  would  do  everything  that  he- 
came  him  to  avert  a  war,  it  was  impossible  to  foresee  the 
issue.  America  had  no  fleet,  no  army  ;  but  in  case  of  wur 
she  would  find  various  means  to  harass  and  annoy  us. 
Against  her  we  could  not  strike  a  blow  that  would  not  be 
as  severely  felt  in  London  as  in  America,  so  identified  were 
the  two  countries  by  conunercial. intercourse.  To  a  contest 
with  such  an  adversary  he  looked  as  the  greatest  possible  mis- 
fortune. If  wo  conunenced  another  crusade  against  her,  we 
might  destroy  her  trade,  and  check  tho  progress  of  her  agri- 
culture, but  wo  must  also  ccpially  injure  ourselves.  Des- 
perate, therefore,  indeed,  nnist  be  that  war  in  which  each 
wound  inflicted  on  our  enemy  would  at  tho  same  time  inflict 
one  upon  ourselves.  He  hoped  to  God  that  such  an  event 
as  a  war  with  America  would  not  happen."  ^ 

All  good  men  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean  must  join 
with  Fox,  who  thus  early  deprecated  war  between  the 

1  Parliamentary  History,  Vol.  XXXI.  p.  627. 


TIIK    A1J15E   GUKGUlKi;,    180d. 


i:>l 


Uiiitocl  States  luid  Kii,l;1iui(1,  ami  jxntraycd  tlu;  rcarful 
cM)iisi'(j^iicncL!S.  Time,  \vhi(;li  has  enlarged  and  nndti- 
plied  the  rehitiuns  between  the  two  cuuntries,  makes 
his  words  more  upplicahlc  now  than  when  lir.st  uttered. 


ii„ 


\li 


TIIIC  AniM-:  fiKKdolKK,    isos. 

Hknui  (Jkk(Joiki:,  of  France,  Curate,  l)e]iuty  to  the 
States  C}cueral,  (.'onstitutional  liislioj*,  ^Icmher  of  the 
Convention,  also  of  the  Council  of  Fi\e  JIundred,  and 
Senator,  sometimes  called  liisho)),  more  frc(|uently  Aijhe, 
was  born  4th  December,  IToO,  and  died  JStli  April,  1H:»1. 
To  these  titles  add  Abolitionist  and  Republican, 

His  character  and  career  \vere  uniijue,  being  in  Franco 
\vhat  Clarkson  and  AVilborforce  were  in  England,  and 
nnich  more,  Ibr  he  was  not  only  an  Abolitionist.  In 
all  history  no  hero  of  humanity  stands  forth  more  con- 
si)icuous  for  instinctive  symi)athy  with  the  IJights  of 
]Man  and  constancy  in  their  support.  As  early  as  17S8 
he  signalized  himself  by  an  essay,  crowned  by  the 
Academy  of  ]Metz,  u})holding  tolerance  for  the  Jews.^ 
His  ])ul)lic  life  began  while  yet  a  curate,  as  a  representa- 
tive of  the  clergy  of  Lorraine  in  the  States  General, 
but  his  sympathies  with  the  people  were  at  once  mani- 
fest. In  the  engraving  by  which  the  oath  in  the  tennis 
court  is  commemorated  he  appears  in  the  foreground. 
His  votes  were  always  for  the  enfranchisement  of  the 
people  and  the  improvement  of  their  condition,  his 
hope  being  "to  Christianize  the  Iie\'olution."  In  the 
night  session  of  4th  August,  1780,  he  declared  for  the 
abolition  of  privileges.  He  M-as  the  first  to  give  adhe- 
sion to  the  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy,  and  himself 

1  Essai  sur  la  Rt'ift-n^ration  pliysique  et  morale  dcs  Juifs. 


4 


Ihi 


"♦I 


%■  i 


wh 


i 


1 

it:   . 
'lilt  .1 

1 

^'^  ^ 

M 

li"2 


I'KormiriG  V(jI(Ks  coxckiininc;  amkukja. 


bocsirne  a  coiistitutiDiml  Itislu)]*.  Tlu;  <l(H;re(5  iibolisliiii" 
i(»yiilty  was  dniwii  by  liiiii,  and  In;  avows  tliut  for  many 
(lays  tliL'ival'tcr  tlio  excess  of  joy  took  IVoiii  liiin  appctitt! 
ami  sleep.  In  the  discussion  on  the  execution  of  the 
kin;^'  lie  cuIIimI  for  the  suit]»ressiou  of  the  punisliuicnl 
of  death.  ^Vt  his  instance  the  conventi(»n  aliolished 
African  slaveiy.  With  similar  ener^^y  lie  sustained 
])ublic  bbraries,  botanical  ^^ardens,  and  experimental 
larms.  lie  was  a  founder  of  the  Uureau  of  i.on'Mtudes, 
the  Conscn'(d()iir  i/cs  ^irts  d  M('ticrs,  iWuX  of  the  National 
Institute.  More  than  any  y>erson  ]ie  contributed  to  pre- 
vent the  destruction  of  ])ublic  monuments,  and  was  the 
iirst  to  cull  tliis  crime  "  vandalism,"  —  an  excidlent  term, 
since  adopted  in  all  European  lan^uaj^es.  With  sinnlar 
vigor  be  said,  in  words  often  (pioted,  "  Kini^s  are  in  the 
moral  order  what  monstei's  are  in  tlie  ]tbysical  order"; 
and,  "The  bisiory  of  kin<'s  is  tlie  miirtvi'olouv  of  tlie 
peo])lo."  lie  denounced  "  tbe  oligarchs  of  uU  countries 
and  all  tbe  crowned  bri<^ands  who  pr(!ssed  down  tlu; 
peo]>le,"  and,  nccordinj^f  to  bis  own  boast,  "s])at  u])on  " 
duellists.  "  J](  i  er  a  loss  to  dcjdore  than  an  injustice 
to  re]>roacb  ourselves  with,"  was  bis  lofty  sobujc  as  be 
turned  from  tbe  warnin'f  that  tbe  CNdonies  mi''bt  be 
endangered  by  tbe  rights  be  demanded. 

Sucb  a  man  could  not  reconcile  biniself  to  tbe  Em- 
pire or  to  Napoleon ;  nor  could  be  expect  consideration 
under  tbe  Kestoration.  l>ut  be  was  constant  always  to 
bis  original  sentiments.  In  1826  be  wrote  a  work  witb 
tbe  expressive  title,  "  Tbe  Nobility  of  tbe  Skin,  or  the 
rreiudice  of  AVbites  against  tbe  Color  of  Africans  and 
tbat  of  tbeir  black  and  mixed  Descendants."  ^     His  life 

1  Dp  la  nol)los?e  dc  la  pcnn  on  <lu  projuiit'  dos  blancs  cortre  la  couleur 
des  At'ricains  et  celle  dc  leurs  (k'sccndiints  noir  et  sanjf-niel^. 


.M  y^- 


^J 


THE  AliUK  GUEGOIKE,   1808. 


153 


wns  prol(Hi,L(('«l  to  witness  tlie  Iicvolutioii  of  IS.'IO,  aiul 
shortly  allcr  liis  ruiimiiis  wcru  lioiiii!  to  tlu!  ccnictt'iy 
of  Alont  Piiniussu  by  young  nii'ii,  who  took  the  hursus* 
from  tho  hciirsu.^ 

This  ))ri('f  lU'count  of  ono  little  known  is  an  intnxhic- 
tion  to  sii^Mial  prophijcics  concern in,!4  America. 

As  early  as  (Sth  June,  171)1,  in  a  doeunient  addressed 
to  citizens  of  color  and  free  nejj;r(jes  of  the  French 
islands,-  he  boldly  said:  — 

"A  (lay  will  conic  when  deputies  <>f  col(»r  will  travci'se 
the  occiui  to  couio  and  sit  in  the  national  diet  and  to  swear 
with  us  to  live  and  die  under  o»u'  laws.  A  dav  will  come 
when  the  sun  will  not  shine  anionj;  you  except  upon  free- 
men, —  when    the   rays  of  the   liudit-.s[)readiu,L;  orb  will   no 

longer  fall  upon  irons  and  slaves It  is  accoi-din;.;  to 

the  irrcsistil)le  mai'ch  of  events  and  the  piMirress  of  intelli- 
gence, that  all  people  dispossessed  of  the  doMiuin  of  liberty 
will  at  last  recover  this  indefeasible  pniperty." " 

These  strong  and  confident  woi'ds,  s(»  early  in  date, 
were  followed  by  others  more  remarkable.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  his  admirable  work  Ik  la  Litfffrafinr  drs 
J^'ef/ri's,  first  published  in  ](S()8,  where,  with  e([ual  knowl- 
edge and  feeling,  homage  is  done  to  a  i)eo))le  wronged 
and  degraded  by  man,  he  cites  his  prediction  with  re- 
gard to  the  sun  shining  onl}'  u})on  freemen,  and  then, 
elevated  by  the  vision,  declares  that  "  the  American 
Continent,  asylum  of  liberty,  is  moving  towards  an 
order  of  things  which  will  be  common  to  the  Antilles, 
and  the  course  of  which  all  the  j^owcrs  comhincd  cannot 

1  The  leading  events  of  his  life  will  be  found  in  the  two  French  biof^niph- 
icftl  <liotionarics,  where  his  name  occupies  considemhle  space. 

2  Lettre  aux  citoycns  de  couleur  et  nej^res  libres  de  Saint  Domingue,  ct 
des  antres  isles  Fran^aises  do  rAnierique. 

8  I'age  12. 

7* 


1.  1; 


I 


154 


rilOPIlETIC   VOICES   COXCEUNING   AMEllICA. 


ai'rcsf."  1  This  vigorous  language  is  crowned  by  a 
l)ro[)liecy  of  singular  extent  and  precision,  when,  after 
dwelling  on  the  inlhienees  at  work  to  accelerate  pro- 
gress, lie  foretells  the  eminence  of  (nir  country  :  -- 

"  Wlicn  an  onergt'tiu  and  i)owcrful  nation,  to  which  cvcry- 
tlung  jn'csiigL's  high  destinies,  strctcliing  its  amis  upon  the 
two  occ'uus,  Atlantic  uud  I'acitic,  shall  direct  its  vessels  from 
one  to  the  other  hf/  an  abridged  route,  — it  may  be  in  cutting 
the  isthmus  of  Panama;  it  'maij  be  iti  formiiKj  a  canal  com- 
municatinr/,  as  has  been  jjt'ojjosed,  by  the  river  l^t.  John,  and 
the  lake  of  Nicarayua,  —  it  ivill  chanf/e  the  face  of  the  commer- 
cial ivorld  and  the  face  of  empires.  ^Vho  knows  if  America 
will  not  then  uveiigc  the  outrages  she  has  received,  and  if 
our  old  Europe,  })laced  in  the  rank  of  a  subaltern  power,  will 
not  become  a  colony  of  the  New  World  l""-^ 

Thus  resting  on  the  two  oceans  with  a  canal  between, 
so  that  the  early  "  secret  of  the  strait "  shall  no  longer 
exist,  the  American  liepublic  will  change  the  face  of 
the  world,  and  perhaps  make  Europe  subaltern.  Such 
M'as  the  vision  of  the  French  Abolitionist,  lifted  bv 
devotion  to  Humanity. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSOX,    1824. 

Small  preface  is  needed  for  the  testimony  of  Jeffer- 
son, whose  lil'e  belongs  to  the  history  of  his  country. 
He  M^as  born  2d  April,  1743,  and  died  4th  July,  182G. 

Contemporary  and  rival  of  Adams,  the  author  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  surpassed  the  other  in 
sympathetic  comprehension  of  the  Eights  of  Man,  as 
the  other  surpassed  him  in  the  prophetic  sjiirit.  Jef- 
ferson's words  picturing  slavery  were  unequalled  in  the 


1  Pacre  282. 


2  Page  283. 


THOMAS   JEFFERSON,    18^4. 


prolonged  clisciission  of  that  torrible  subject,  jiiul  his 
two  liKiugural  Addiessiis  are  iiiusterpieces  of  political 
truth.  JUit  with  clearer  eye  Adams  foresaw  the  future 
graiuleur  of  the  lu.'[)ul)lic,  and  dwelt  on  its  ravisliin^i; 
lii-ht  and  ulory.  The  vision  of  our  countiv,  coextensive 
aiul  coincident  with  the  Xortli  American  Continent,  was 
never  beheld  by  Jefferson.  Wldle  recognizing  that  our 
l)rinciples  of  government,  traversing  the  llocky  M<  lu 
tains,  would  smite  upon  the  Pacific  coast,  his  sigh  did 
not  embrace  the  distant  communities  there  as  parts  of  .. 
common  country.  Tins  is  appai-ent  in  a  letter  to  elohn 
Jacob  Astor,  24th  March,  1812,  where,  referring  to  ilie 
commencement  of  a  settlement  by  the  latter  on  Colum- 
bia Itiver,  and  declaring  the  gratification  with'  which  he 
looked  forward  to  the  time  when  its  descendants  sliould 
have  spread  through  the  whole  length  of  tiiiit  coast,  !ie 
adds,  "  covering  it  with  i'ree  aiid  indepicndent  Ameri- 
cans, uncoiinciicd  V'itk  ny>  hut  bij  tlic  tics  of  hluod  (ciul 
interest,  and  employing  like  us  tlie  rights  of  self-govern- 
ment." 1  In  anotlier  letter  to  ]\Ir.  Astor,  9t!i  Novem- 
ber, 1813,  he  characterizes  the  settlement  as  "the  germ 
of  a  great,  free,  and  iwlependcnt  empire  on  that  side  of 
our  continent^' ^  thus  carefully  announcing  political  dis- 
sociation. 

V)\\i  Jefferson  has  not  been  alone  in  blindness  to  the 
jnighty  ca]xibili(:ies  of  tlie  Iiepublic,  inspired  by  his  own 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Daniel  Wel)ster,  in  a 
speech  at  Faneuil  Hall,  as  late  as  7th  Novendjer,  1848, 
pronounced  that  the  Pacific  coast  could  not  be  gov- 
erned from  Euro])e  or  from  the  Atlantic  side  of  the 
Continent ;  and  he  pressed  the  absurdity  of  anything 
different:  — 


;;!Sr''P 


1  JefTerson,  Writings,  Vol.  VI.  p.  65. 


2  Ibid.,  p.  248. 


i 


sli,     I 


15G 


I'iJOl'lIETlC   VOICES   COXCEKNING   AMElllCA. 


■  ■■■'.  r 


'•  And  now  let  niu  ask  if  there  be  any  sensible  man  in  the 
whole  United  States,  who  will  say  for  a  moment,  that,  when 
fifty  or  a  hundred  thousand  persons  of  this  description 
[Americans  mainl}',  but  all  Anglo-Saxons]  shall  find  them- 
selves on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  they  will  long 
consent  to  be  under  the  rules  of  the  American  Congress  or 
the  British  Parliament.  They  will  raise  the  standard  for 
themselves,  and  they  ought  to  do  it."  ^ 

Such  a  precise  iind  strenuous  i)rotest  from  such  a 
quarter  mitigates  the  distrust  of  Jefferson.  But  after 
the  acf|uisition  of  California  the  orator  said,  "  I  willingly 
admit  that  my  ai>prehensions  have  not  been  realized."*'^ 

On  the  permanence  of  the  Xatioiuil  Union,  and  its 
influence  throughout  the  world,  Jefferson  prophesied 
thus,  in  a  letter  to  Lafayette,  14tli  February,  1815:  — 

"  The  cement  of  tiiis  Union  is  in  the  heart-blood  of  every 
American.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  on  earth  a  government 
established  on  so  immovable  a  basis.  Let  them  in  any 
State,  even  in  Massachusetts  itself,  raise  the  standard  of  sep- 
aration, and  its  citizens  will  rise  in  mass  and  do  justice  to 
themselves  on  their  own  incendiaries."  ^ 

Unhappily  the  Rebellion  shows  that  he  counted  too 
much  on  the  patriotism  of  the  States  against  "  their 
own  incendiaries."  In  the  same  hopeful  spirit,  he  wrote 
to  Edward  Livingston,  the  eminent  jurist,  4th  April, 
1824:  — 


m 


"  You  have  many  years  yet  to  come  of  vigorous  activity, 
and  I  confidently  trust  they  Avill  be  employed  in  cherishing 


1  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  0th  Xovombcr,  1848.     This  speech  is  not  found 
in  tlie  collected  works  of  Mr.  Webster. 

2  Speech  at  Pilgrim  I'estival,  New  York,  1850:  Works,  Vol.  II.  p.  526. 

3  Writings,  Vol.  VI.  p.  426. 


GEORGE   CANNING,    \62i]. 


.i){ 


every  measure  -which  may  foster  our  brotherly  union  and 
perpetuate  a  constitution  of  goverunient  dextined  to  be  the 
jfrhnitive  and  j/recious  model  of  vhat  is  to  chaiuje  the  condition 
of  man  over  the  (jlohe.^''  ^ 

In  these  hitti-r  words  he  takes  his  place  on  the  pLit- 
forni  of  John  Adams,  and  sees  the  worhl  changed  by 
our  exani])le.  lUit  again  he  is  anxious  al)out  the  L'nion. 
In  another  letter  to  Livingston,  25tli  ]\Iarch,  18.15,  after 
saying  of  the  National  Constitution,  that  "it  is  a  com- 
pact of  many  independent  powers,  every  single  one  of 
which  claims  an  equal  right  to  understand  it  and  to  re- 
quire its  observance,"  he  prophesies  :  — 

"  However  sti-ong  the  cord  of  compact  may  be,  there  is  a 
point  of  tension  at  which  it  will  break."  ^ 

Huis,  in  venerable  years,  while  watching  with  anxi- 
ety the  fortunes  of  the  Union,  the  patriarch  did  not  fail 
to  see  the  new  order  of  ages  instituted  by  the  American 
Government, 

GEOnGE   GAXNIXG,  1826. 

George  Canning  was  a  successor  of  Fox,  in  tlie 
Hon.'-  ■  of  Commons,  as  statesman,  minister,  and  orator  ; 
he  was  born  11th  A])ril,  1770,  and  died  8th  August, 
1827,  in  the  beautiful  villa  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire, 
at  Chiswick,  where  Fox  had  died  l>efore.  Uidike  Fox 
in  sentiment  for  our  country,  he  is  nevertheless  associ- 
ated with  a  leading  event  of  our  history,  and  is  the 
author  of  prophetic  words. 

The  Monroe  Doctrine,  as  now  familiarly  called,  pro- 
ceeded from  Canning.     He  was  its  inventor,  promoter, 

1  Writings,  Vol.  VII.  p.  344.  2  ibid.,  p.  404. 


i 


m  *! 


i 


158 


I'llOniETlC   VOICES   CONCEUNING  AMEKICA. 


arid  cliainpion,  at  least  so  far  as  it  bears  against  Euro- 
pean intervention  in  American  ailiiirs.  Earnestly  en- 
ga^^ed  in  counteracting  the  designs  of  the  Holy  Alliance 
for  tiie  restoration  of  the  Spanish  cohaiies  to  Spain,  he 
sought  to  enlist  the  United  States  in  the  same  policy ; 
and  when  ]\Ir.  Kusli,  our  iMinister  at  London,  rei)lied 
that  any  interference  with  European  politics  was  con- 
trary to  the  traditions  of  the  American  Government,  lie 
argued  that,  however  just  such  a  ])olicy  might  have 
been  formerly,  it  was  no  longer  apjilicable,  —  that  the 
question  was  new  jind  complicated,  —  that  it  was  "  full 
as  much  American  as  European,  to  say  no  more,"  — 
that  it  concerned  the  United  States  under  aspects  and 
interests  as  immediate  and  commanding  as  those  of  any 
of  tlie  states  of  Euro])e,  —  that  "  they  were  the  iirst 
power  on  that  continent,  and  confessedly  the  leading 
power"  ;  and  he  tlien  asked,  "  Was  it  possible  that  they 
could  see  Avitli  indifference  tlieir  fate  decided  upon  by 
Europe?  Had  not  a  new  epocli  arrived  in  the  relative 
position  of  the  United  States  toward  Europe,  which 
Europe  must  acknowledge  ?  IVcre  the  great  jmlitical 
and  commercial  intcrcstfi,  which  hung  u])on  tlie  destinies 
of  the  new  continent  to  be  canvassed  and  adjusted  in 
tliis  hemisphere,  without  the  co-operation,  or  even  the 
knowledge;  of  the  United  States?"  "With  mingled 
ardor  and  importunity  the  British  INIinister  pressed  his 
case.  At  last,  after  much  discussion  in  the  Cabinet  at 
AVashington,  President  Monroe,  accepting  the  lead  of 
IMr.  Canning  and  with  the  counsel  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  ])ut  forth  his  famous  declaration,  where,  after 
referring  to  tlie  radical  difference  between  the  jjolitical 
systems  of  Europe  and  America,  he  says,  that  "  we 
should  consider  any  attempt  on  their  part  to  extend 


GEORGE    CANNING,    ]^2C>. 


159 


their  systems  to  any  ])ortioii  of  tliis  licinisphere  as 
daufjcrous  to  our  pcdcc  (did  snfvtii''  and  that,  where 
governnieiits  liave  lieeii  reeoiiiiized  by  us  as  iiulopeii- 
dent,  "we  couhl  not  view  any  interjxjsition  ior  tlie  })ur- 
])ose  oF  oppressinLj  them,  or  enntrollinn'  in  any  other 
manner  their  destiny,  by  any  Kur()i)eiin  ])()\ver,  in  any 
other  liL;"ht  than  as  a  hiaiiij'rsfftf/d/i.  of  (in  (Hifru'iulUj 
dii^po^ition  tijKUii'd  f/tc   IJiiilcd  Sfdfcx."  ^ 

Tlie  message  (jf  President  ^Monroe;  was  received  in 
Kniiland  with  entluisiastie  eon'fratulations.  It  was  nixm 
all  tonuues ;  the  press  was  lull  of  it ;  the  securities  of 
Spanish  .Vmeriea  rose  in  the  market;  the  agents  of 
Spanish  America  W(!re  happy.'^  lirou^iiam  exclaimed, 
in  Parliament,  that  "  no  event  had  ever  dispersed  j^rcater 
joy,  exultation,  and  _L;ratitude  over  all  the  freemen  of 
Europe."  ^Mackintosh  rejoiced  in  the  coincidence  of 
England  and  the  United  States,  "  the  two  "^reat  com- 
monwealths, for  so  he  deliLi,hte(l  to  call  them;  and  he 
heartily  prayed  that  they  may  he  forever  united  in  the 
cause  of  justice  and  liherty." '^  The  Holy  Alliance 
abandoned  their  purposes  on  this  continent,  and  the 
independence  of  Spanish  America  was  established. 
Some  time  afterwards,  on  the  occasion  of  assistance 
to  PortuLtal,  when  j\lr.  (.'anninif  felt  called  to  review 
and  vindicate  his  foreign  policy,  he  assumed  the  fol- 
lowing lofty  strain.  This  was  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, 12th  December,   182G  :  — 

"It  would  be  disinucnuous  not  to  admit  that  the  entry 
of  the  French  army  into  Spain  was,   in  a  certain  sense,  a 

1  Animnl  Mossnjre  to  C<)n!.n"o-i=;  of  2(1  Doromlior,  IS'2.3. 

2  Kusli,  Mcinorainhi  of  Residence  at  Lniirlini,   Vul.  II.  p.  458;  Wheuton, 
Eloincnts  of  Iiiteniiitidiinl  Eiiw,  jiji.  HT-ll'i.  Diiiia's  note. 

3  Stupleton,  Life  of  (^imiinir,  Vol.  II.  pp.  40,  47. 


fi 


f^ 


IGO 


I'llOrilETIC   VOICES   CONCEKNLN'G  AMERICA. 


(lisparaj,'ciuont,  an  unVont  to  our  piide,  a  blow  to  the 
feeliiig-.s  of  Kii^laiid.  IJiit  I  ikniy  that,  (luostioiial)!*  or  con- 
siirahlo  as  the  act  may  bo,  it  was  one  timt  necessarily  called 
for  our  direct  and  hostile  o})i)osition.  Was  nothing  then 
to  be  done]  If  France  occu})ied  Spain,  was  it  necessary, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  conse(|uences  of  that  occupation,  that 
wc  sh(»uld  l)l(tckade  (-'adiz]  No.  I  looked  another  wa}-. 
I  sought  materials  for  compensation  in  another  hemisi)here. 
("ontejnplating  Spain,  such  as  our  ancestoi'S  had  known  her, 
I  resolved  that,  if  Fran(;e  had  Spain,  it  should  not  be  Spain 
'  with  the  Indies.'  1  called  the  Xcio  World  into  existence  to 
redress  the  balance  of  the  Old.''^^ 

If  thu  republics  of  Spanish  America,  thus  summoned 
into  inde])endeiit  existence,  have  not  contributed  the 
weight  thus  vaunted,  the  growing  power  of  the  United 
States  is  ample  to  compensate  dehcieneies  on  this  conti- 
nent.    There  is  no  balance  of  power  it  cannot  redress. 


ALEXIS  DE  TOCQUEYILLE,   1835. 

"With  De  Tocqueville  we  come  among  contemporaries 
removed  by  death,  lie  was  born  at  Paris,  29th  July, 
1805,  and  died  at  Cannes,  IGtli  April,  1859.  Having 
known  him  personally  and  seen  him  at  his  castle-home 
in  Normandy,  I  cannot  hiil  to  recognize  the  man  in  his 
writings,  which  on  this  account  have  a  double  charm. 

He  was  the  younger  son  of  noble  parents,  his  father 
being  of  ancient  Norman  descent  and  his  mother  grand- 
daughter of  ]Malesherbes,  the  venerated  defender  of 
Louis  XVI. ;  but  his  aristocratic  birth  had  no  influence 
to  check  the  generous  sympathies  with  which  his  heart 
always  palpitated.     In  1831  he  came  to  America  as  a 

1  Canning,  Speeches,  Vol.  VI.  pp.  108,  109. 


ALEXIS   DE  TOCQUEVILLE,    1835. 


101 


comniissioiicr  from  tlic  Frcncli  Goverinnciit  to  cxamiiio 
our  ])ris()ii.s,  l)ut  witli  u  lurj^or  coniniis.sion  I'rom  liis  own 
youl  to  study  republican  institutions.  His  conscien- 
tious a])i)licati()n,  rare  i)rol)ity,  i)enctrating  tliou^ht,  and 
refinement  of  style  all  ai)i)eared  in  liis  work,  De,  la 
Democratic  en  Anu'riquc,  lirst  i)ul)lislied  in  IS.'J."),  whose 
peculiar  success  is  marked  by  tlio  t'ourteentli  French 
edition  now  belbre  nie,  and  the  translations  into  otlier 
lan^^'uages.  At  once  he  was  famcHis  and  liis  work 
classical.  The  Academy  o))ened  its  uates.  Since  Mon- 
lescpiien  tiierc  had  been  no  e([ual  success  in  the  same 
dei)artnient,  and  lie  was  constiintly  likened  to  the  illus- 
trious author  of  "The  Sjjirit  of  Laws."  Less  epi;4ram- 
matic,  less  arti'ul,  and  less  French  than  his  i)rototyj)e, 
he  was  more  simple,  truthful,  and  ])rophetic.  A  second 
publication  in  1840  with  the  same  title,  the  fruit  of 
mature  studies,  presented  American  institutions  in  an- 
other aspect,  exhibiting  his  unimpaired  iaitli  in  Democ- 
racy, which  with  him  was  E(|uality  as  "  iirst  principle 
and  symbol."  ^ 

Entering  the  French  Chambers,  he  became  eminent  for 
character,  discussing  chielly  those  measures  in  which 
civilization  is  most  concerned,  —  the  reform  of  jirisons, 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  penal  colonies,  and  the  preten- 
sions of  socialism.  His  work,  LAncicn  Regime  ct  la 
Rei'olution,  awakens  admiration,  while  his  correspond- 
ence is  among  the  most  charming  in  literature,  excit- 
ing love  as  well  as  delight. 

His  honest  and  practical  insight  made  him  philoso- 
pher and  prophet,  which  he  was  always.  A  speech  in 
the  Chambers,  27th  January,  1848,  was  memorable  as 
predicting  the  Revolution  which  occurred  two  months 


'    I 


.   i! 


^ 


"wWr 


1  Vol.  III.  Chap.  VII.  p.  527. 


1G2 


rnoriiETic  voices  conceunixc;  America. 


■)  I 


■'■f  I 


!i 


■S 


later.     IJut  his  foresight  with  rej^ard  to  America  brings 
hiin  into  our  ])rocession. 

His  clearness  of  vision  appears  in  the  distinctness 
with  which  he  recognized  the  peril  from  slavery  and 
from  the  pretensions  of  the  States.  And  in  slavery- 
he  saw  also  the  prolonged  and  diversitied  indignity  to 
the  African  race.     This  was  his  statement :  — 

"Tlic  most  fc'iirful  of  all  tlio  evils  which  meniicc  the  fu- 
ture of  the  United  States  springs  from  tlw  j>re>ience  of  the 
bl<(ck'H  OH  their  soil.  When  wc  seek  the  cause  of  present 
cmbjirrassmentH  and  of  future  dangers  to  the  United 
States,  wc  arrive  almost  always  at  this  first  fact,  from 
whatever  point  wc  depart."  ^ 

Then  with  consummate  power  he  depicts  the  lot  of  the 
unhappy  African  even  when  free,  —  oppressed,  but  with 
whites  for  judges;  shut  out  from  the  jury  ;  his  son  ex- 
cluded from  tlie  school  which  receives  the  descendant  of 
the  Euroi)enn;  unable  with  gold  to  buy  a  place  at  tlie 
theatre  "by  tlie  side  of  him  who  was  his  master";  in 
hos[)itals  sepanited  from  the  rest ;  permitted  to  worship 
the  same  God  as  the  whites,  but  not  to  pray  at  the  same 
altar;  and  when  life  is  passed  the  difference  of  condition 
prevailing  still  even  o\  er  the  equality  of  the  grave.^ 

Impressed  by  the  menace  from  slavery,  he  further 
pictures  the  Union  succumbing  to  the  States:  — 

"  I  deceive  myself,  or  the  Federal  Government  of  the 
United  States  tends  daily  to  weaken  itself.  It  withdraws 
successively  from  affairs ;  it  restricts  more  and  more  the 
circle  of  its  action.  Naturally  feeble,  it  abandons  even  the 
appearance  of  force."  ^ 

1  Do  la  Democratic  en  Amdrique,  Tom.  II.  Chap.  X.  p.  302  (ed.  1864). 

2  Ibid.,  p.  307. 

«  Ibid.,  Tom.  II.  Cliap.  X.  p.  397. 


ALEXIS   1)E   TOCQUEVILLE,   1835. 


103 


Such  was  the  condition  whon  Do  Torcjiicvillo  wrote, 
and  so  it  continued  until  tiie  IJebellion  broke  tortli  and 
the  country  rose  to  save  the  Union.  Foreseeing  this 
peril,  he  did  not  desj)air  of  the  Jicpublic,  wiiicli,  in  his 
judgment,  was  "  the  natural  state  of  the  Americans/'* 
with  roots  more  profound  than  the  I'nion. 

In  describing  the  future  he  becomes  a  prophet.  Ac- 
cei)ting  the  conclusion  that  the  numl)er  of  inhabitants 
doubles  in  twenty-two  years,  and  n(»t  recognizing  any 
causes  to  arrest  this  progressive  movement,  he  foresees 
the  colossal  empire :  — 

*'  The  Americans  of  the  United  States,  wliatuvcr  thcv  do, 
will  become  one  of  the  gi'catest  ])C(>|)lo  of  the  csirth  ;  they 
will  cover  with  their  otfshoots  tdniost  all  North  America. 
Th"  T'  .tincut  which  thny  inhabit  is  their  domain;  it  can- 
not cscajJC  them."  ^ 

Then,  declaring  that  the  "English  race,"  not  sto])ping 
within  the  limits  of  the  Union,  will  advance  much  be- 
yond towards  the  northeast,  —  that  at  the  northwest 
they  will  encounter  only  Russian  settlements  without 
importance,  that  at  the  southwest  tlu;  vast  solitudes 
of  JNIexican  territory  will  be  ajipropriated,  —  and  dwell- 
ing on  the  fortunate  geographical  ])osition  of  "the  Kng- 
lisli  of  America,"  with  tlieir  climate,  their  interior  seas, 
their  great  rivers,  and  the  fertility  of  their  soil,  he  is 
ready  to  say  :  — 

"So  in  the  midst  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  future  there 
is  at  least  one  event  which  is  certain.  At  an  epoch  winch 
we  can  call  near,  since  it  concerns  the  life  of  a  pco[)lo, 
the  Anglo-Americans  alone  will  cover  all  the  immense  ter- 
ritory comprised  between  the  polar  ice  and  the  tro])ics ;  they 

1  Do  la  Dc'inocratie  en  Amerique,  Tom.  II.  Chap.  X.  p.  399  (ed.  1864). 

2  Ibid.,  p.  379. 


t 


I] 


H 


f 


, 


*  s' 
1 1,' 


!v  •  i) 


-I' 


ii 


Ttri 


164         rUOPIIETIG   VOICES  CONCKUMNU   amluica, 

will  8i)roiul  from  tlio  shores  ot  the  Atlantic  Occun  lvcu  to 
the  cousta  of  tho  Southern  .Sea."  * 

Thol),  (loclaring  that  tho  territory  dcstiiiotl  to  tho 
An;^'lo-Ani(!ricuii  race  ('((uals  tlirco  loiutiis  ol"  Kinoiu!, 
that  many  CLMiturit's  ^v'ill  pass  buic^e  tliu  dillorent  oH- 
fihoots  of  tliis  race  will  ceaae  to  present  a  eoninion 
])hysio;4ii()niy,  that  no  e])och  can  be  lui'eseen  when  in 
the  New  World  there  will  l)e  any  permanent  incrinal- 
ity  of  conditions,  and  that  there  are  processes  of 
association  and  of  knowledi^e  by  which  the  ])eopl(!  are 
assimilated  with  each  other  and  with  the  rest  of  the 
worlil,  tiie  jirophet  speaks:  — 

"There  will  then  arrive  a  time  when  there  will  bo  seen 
in  North  America  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  menu 
cqiial  together,  win  ill  all  belong"  to  the  same  family,  who 
will  have  the  same  j)oint  of  departure,  the  same  civilization, 
the  same  language,  the  same  religion,  the  same  habits,  tho 
same  manners,  and  over  which  thonght  will  circulate  in  tho 
same  form  and  paint  itself  in  the  same  colors.  All  else  is 
doui)tful,  but  this  is  certain.  Hero  is  a  fact  entiicly  new 
in  tho  world,  of  which  imagination  can  hardly  seize  tho 
extent."  - 

No  American  cari  fail  to  be  strengtbened  in  the  fu- 
ture of  the  Kepublic  by  the  testimony  of  De  Tocqueville. 
Honor  and  gratitude  to  liis  memory  ! 

L'ICITARP    COBDEN,    1849. 

CoMlxn  yet  nearer  to  our  own  day,  we  meet  a  famil- 
iar name,  now  consecrated  by  death, — liichard  Cobden  ; 
born  od  June,   1804,   and  died  2d  A})ril,    18G5.      in 

1  Do  h\  Dc^mocratic  en  Am(?rique  Tom.  II.  Chap.  X.  j).  428  (ed.  1864). 

2  Ibid  ,  p.  430. 


men  Alii)   COnnEN,    IrW. 


105 


proportion  as  (ruth  ])r(»vails  nniong  nion,  his  charnctor 
will  sliino  with  incruasin;^'  ji;l'»i'y  until  h'»  is  ro('on;iiizod 
as  the  tirst  Knglishiiuui  of  his  tiinu.  Thoiij^'U  thor- 
oughly Eii.Ljlish,  ho  was  not  insular  IIu  survcd  inan- 
kiiid  as  well  as   Kic^land. 

His  masterly  laeullies  ami  his  real  goodness  niadu 
him  a  prc/phet  id  ways.  ]]o  saw  the  future,  and  strovo 
to  hasten  its  ])i'(»inises.  The  elevatittn  and  happiness 
of  the  human  family  were  his  daily  thou.uht.  lie;  ktu3W 
how  to  huild  as  well  as  to  destroy.  Throu;^h  him  dia- 
ahilities  U])nn  ti'ado  and  opj)ressive  tiix.es  wei'c  over- 
turtUMl ;  also  a  new  treaty  was  nej^otiwted  with  Franco, 
quiekcniui^  commerce  and  intercourse.  He  was  never 
so  truly  eminent  as  when  hrini^inj.,'  his  practical  senso 
and  eidaru^ed  experience  to  commend  the  cause  of  Per- 
manent Peace  in  the  world  hy  the  estaitlishmorit  of  a 
refined  system  of  Intenuitionid  Justice,  and  the  dis- 
arming- of  the  nations.  To  this  j^reat  consummation 
0,11  his  later  lahors  tended  I  have  before  iih;  a  long 
letter,  dated  at  London,  Ttli  Novemher,  ISP.),  whero 
he  says  much  on  this  ahsorhin^  (puistion,  from  mIhcIi, 
by  an  easy  transition,  he  ])asses  to  s]ieak  of  the  pro- 
posed annexation  of  Canada  to  the  I'liitL'd  States.  As 
what  ho  says  on  the  latter  tojiic  concerns  America,  and 
is  a  prophetic  vf»ice,  I  have  obtained  piirmission  to  copy 
it  for  this  collection  :  — 

"  Race,  roliirion,  laugufvcro,  traditions,  arc  bcconriint;  bonds 
of  unifiii,  nud  not  the  parchment  title-deeds  of  sovcrciuctis. 
These  instincts  may  be  thwarted  for  the  day,  but  they  arc 
too  deeply  rooted  in  ntitnre  and  in  usefulness  not  to  prevail 
in  the  end.  I  look  with  less  interest  to  these  stniiriJ^lcs  of 
races  to  live  apart  for  what  they  want  to  luido,  than  for 
what  they  will  prevent  being  done   in  future.     The//  tvUl 


Ml' 


3"ll 


<;  M 


♦ 


f 


IGG 


rUOIMIKTK;    VOICKS   CONCEUXINM^,   AMKUICA. 


warn  rulers  that  Ik  nn forth  the  nrijniniHini  of  fnnh  territory^ 
by  fi>rt'c  if  ariuK^  null  onlij  hriiif/  vmhurraxsmiutH  ami  cii'il  war, 
iimtuud  of  tliut  incroiiHcd  Mtron;;tli  which,  hi  iincit'iit  tiiia-H, 
whoii  people  were  passed,  hki;  tloiks  of  sheej),  tV(»iii  one  kiii^ 
to  another,  alvviiys  tieeoiiipunied  tlie  iueorponition  of  now 
tcnitoriul  coiupients. 

•'This  is  tlje  «eeret  of  the  :ulmitted  doetrhie,  that  wo 
Hhidl  have  no  more  wars  of  eonipiest  or  luiihition.  lii  this 
respi'ct  i/oit  lire  (Hlfei'ently  Hituiited,  havin}^  vast  truets  of 
unpeopled  territory  to  tempt  that  eupidity  which,  in  respeet 
of  Iiinded  pi'opeity,  alwiiys  disposes  individuals  and  nations, 
however  rieh  in  ac-res,  to  desire  more.  This  l»rin^s  me  to 
tho  Hubjoct  of  Canada,  to  which  yon  refer  in  your  letters. 

"  I  a^Teo  with  you,  that  nature  has  decided  that  Canada 
and  the.  United  States  must  hecome  one,  for  all  /atrposen  of 
free  interconininnication.  Whether  they  also  shall  ho  miitcd 
in  tho  same  federal  government  must  depend  upon  the  two 
parties  to  tho  luiion.  I  can  assure  you  that  there  will  ho 
no  re])etition  of  the  policy  of  177('),  on  oui*  part,  to  prevent 
our  North  American  colonies  from  pursuhiLj  their  interest 
in  their  own  way.  If  the  people  of  Canada  arc  tolerably 
unanimous  in  wishinur  to  sever  the  verv  slight  thread  whieh 
now  binds  tlicm  to  this  co\niti"v,  I  see  no  reason  whv,  if 
pood  faith  and  ordinary  temper  be  observed,  it  shoTild  not 
bo  done  amicablv.  I  think  it  would  be  far  more  likely  to 
be  accom])lished  peaceably  if  the  snhjert  of  annexation  were 
left  as  a  distinct  question.  I  am  quite  sure  that  tre  should 
be  gainers,  to"  the  amount  of  about  a  milli(m  sterling  annti- 
ally,  if  our  North  American  colonists  would  set  up  in  life 
for  themselves  and  maintain  their  own  establishments,  and 
I  sec  no  reason  to  doubt  that  they  might  be  also  gainers  by- 
being  thrown  upon  their  own  resources. 

"The  less  your  countrymen  mingle  in  tho  controversy, 
the  better.  It  will  only  be  an  additional  obstacle  in  the 
path  of  those  in  this  country  who  see  the  ultimate  necessity 


LUCAa  ALAMAN,    185^. 


107 


of  a  s('j)aniti()n,  Imt  who  liiivi'  Htill  moiiu'  ij^'tiuranco  ami 
prejudice  to  (iiijtL'iKl  aj^ainwt,  wliii-li,  if  iisi'd  a«  jxtlitical 
capital  by  dosi^iiiiii;^  politicians,  may  compiicati'  Horiously 
a  very  (lillicult  piece  of  Mtatrsmaiiship.  It  is  fttr  you  ami 
Huch  as  you,  who  love  peace,  ti>  j^uide  your  couutrymen 
arijiht  iti  this  matter.  You  liave  made  the  most  uohio 
coutrihutioiis  of  any  modern  writer  to  the  cause  of  peace; 
and  as  a  pul)lic  man  I  ho[)e  you  will  exert  all  your  iiilluenco 
to  induce  Americans  to  hold  a  (li;rnified  attitude  and  oliservo 
a  'masterly  inactivity'  in  the  controversy  which  is  rajtidly 
advancin;^'  to  a  solution  between  the  mother  country  and 
her  American  colonies." 

A  ])rud('Ut  jxitriotism  iiinon^"  us  will  iqtpreciate  the 
wisdom  of  this  counsel,  more  nceiK'd  now  than  \\\w\i 
written.  The  controversy  which  ("olideii  foresaw  "be- 
tween the  mother  countiy  and  her  American  coloniijs" 
is  yet  undetermined.  The.  rec(;nt  creation  of  what  is 
somewhat  j,M'andly  called  "The  Dominion  of  Canada" 
marks  one  stage  in  its  progress. 


!■  M 


LFCAS   ALAMAN,    18.52. 

FnoM  Canada  T  pass  to  ]\Ie.\ieo,  and  close  this  list 
with  Lucas  Alan)an,  the  ^Tcxican  statesman  and  histo- 
rian, who  has  left  on  record  a  most  i)atlu'tic  ])rophecy 
with  regard  to  his  own  country,  intensely  interesting 
to  us  at  this  moment. 

Alaman  was  horn  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, and  died  June  2,  1853.  lie  was  a  prominent 
leader  of  the  monarchical  party,  and  IMinister  of  Foreign 
Affairs  under  Presidents  r)ustamente  and  Santa  Ana, 
In  this  cnpacity  he  inspired  the  respect  of  foreign  di- 
plomatists.    One  of  these,  who  had  occasion  to  know 


«i 


Wi 


1G8 


PUOPIIETIC    VOICES   CONCKllNING   AMERICA. 


him  officially,  says  of  liim,  in  answer  to  my  inquiries, 
that  lie  "  was  the  greatest  statesman  Mexico  lias  pro- 
duced since  licr  independence."^  lie  was  one  of  the 
few  in  any  country  who  have  been  able  to  unite  liter- 
ature witlj  public  life,  and  obtain  honors  in  each. 

llis  first  work  was  "Dissertations  on  the  History  of 
the  Mexican  Ucpublic,"  ^  in  three  volumes,  i)ubli.shed 
at  Mexico,  1844.  In  these  he  considers  the  original 
concpu'st  by  Cortes,  its  consequences,  the  conipieror 
and  his  family,  the  propagation  of  the  Clu'istian  re- 
ligion in  New  Spain,  tlio  formation  of  the  city  of  Mex- 
ico, the  history  of  Spain  and  the  house  of  Bourbon. 
All  these  topics  are  treated  somewhat  copiously.  Then 
followed  the  "  History  of  Mexico,  from  the  First  ]\fove- 
ments  which  prepared  its  Independence  in  1808,  to  the 
present  Epoch,"  ^  in  five  volumes,  published  at  ^Mexico, 
the  first  bearing  date  1849,  and  the  fil'tli  1852.  From 
the  Frei'ace  to  the  first  volume,  it  appears  that  the 
author  was  born  in  (Juanajuato,  and  witnessed  there 
the  beginning  of  the  jVlexican  revolution  in  1810,  under 
Don  Miguel  Hidalgo,  the  curate  of  Dolores;  that  lie 
was  personally  ac([uainted  with  the  curate  and  with 
many  who  had  a  principal  part  in  the  successes  of  that 
time;  that  he  was  experienced  in  pulJic  affairs,  as 
deputy  and  as  member  of  the  cabinet ;  and  that  he 
had  known  directly  the  persons  and  things  of  which 
he  wrote.  His  last  volume  embraces  the  government 
of  Itnrbide  as  Emperor,  and  also  his  un.Vrtunate  death, 
ending  with  the  establishment  of  the  Mexican  Federal 


\' 


1  The  excellent  Bnroii  von  Gerolt,  for  so  lonj^  a  pericd  at  Washington  a3 
Minister  of  Prussia  nn<l  of  tiie  Cerman  Empire. 

2  Discrtaciones  soi)re  la  Historia  do  la  RcpnhKca  Mepcicana. 

3  Hisioria  de  Mejico  desde  los  primeros   Movimientos  quo  prcpararon  li 
RU  Indcpendencia  en  al  Ano  de  1808  luista  la  Epoca  presente. 


LUCAS   ALAMAN,   1852. 


IGO 


Republic  in  1824.  The  work  is  careful  and  well  con- 
sidered. The  eminent  di[)l()niatist  already  mentioned, 
who  had  known  the  author  ollicially,  writes  that  "  no 
one  was  better  acquainted  witli  the  history  and  causes 
of  the  incessant  revolutions  in  his  untbrtunate  country, 
and  thnt  liis  work  on  this  subject  is  considered  by  all 
respectable  men  in  JMexico  a  rlicf-cVoiuvrc  for  purity  of 
sentiments  and  patriotic  convictions." 

It  is  on  account  of  the  valedictory  words  of  tiiis  His- 
tory that  I  introduce  the  name  of  Alam.m,  and  nothing 
more  striking  aj-pears  in  this  gallery.     IJehold:  — 

"  Mexico  will  ho,  without  doubt,  a  laud  of  ju'ospcrity 
from  its  natural  advantages,  but  it  will  not  be  so  for  the 
races  ivhich  now  inhabit  It.  As  it  seemed  the  destiny  of  the 
peoples  who  estahlished  themselves  therein  at  diricrcnt  and 
remote  epochs  to  perish  from  the  face  of  it,  leaviuu'  hardly 
a  memory  of  their  existence  ;  even  as  the  nation  which  huilt 
the  edifices  of  Palenque,  and  those  which  we  admire  in  the 
penmsula  of  Yucatan,  was  destroyed  without  its  beinp;  known 
what  it  was  nor  liow  it  disappeared  ;  etvu  as  the  Toltecs  per- 
ished hi/  the  hands  of  Ixtrbaroiis  tribes  coniinfi  frorn,  the  Xorth, 
no  record  of  them  remaining  hut  the  pyramids  of  Choluhi 
and  Teotihuaean  ;  and,  finally,  even  as  the  ancient  Mexicans 
fell  beneath  the  power  of  the  Spaniards,  tJie  coimtr>/  gaininff 
infinitely  by  this  chanfie  of  dominion,  hut  its  ancient  masters 
heing  overthrown  ;  —  so  likewise  its  present  inhabitants  shall 
be  ruined  and  hardly  obtain  the  com[)assion  they  have  mer- 
ited, and  the  Mexican  nation  of  our  days  shall  have  ap])lie(l 
to  it  what  a  celebrated  Latin  poet  said  of  one  of  the  most 
famous  pcrsonapes  of  Roman  history,  STAT  MAGNI  NOMI- 
NIS  UMBIiA,^  —  nothing  more  remains  than  the  shadow 
of  a  name  illustrious  in  another  time. 


U 


\  iJ 


1  Til  tl  c  oriirinal  toxt  of  AlMinnn  this  is  printed  in  large  capitals,  and 
explained  in  a  note  as  suid  by  Liican  of  I'cinpey. 
8 


« 


170 


riiOniETIC   VOICES   concerning   AMERICA. 


if 


"May  the  Almighty,  in  wliosc  liiUulH  is  the  fate  of  nations, 
and  wlio  by  ways  hidden  IVoni  ovir  sight  abases  or  exalts 
them,  according  to  the  designs  of  his  providence,  be  pleased 
to  grant  unto  ours  the  protection  by  which  he  has  so  often 
deigned  to  preserve  it  from  the  dangers  to  which  it  has  been 
exposed."  ^ 

Most  affecting  \vor(ls  of  projdiecy  !  Considering  the 
chra-acter  of  the  author  as  statesman  and  historian,  it 
could  have  been  only  with  inconceivable  anguish  that 
lie  made  this  terrible  record  for  the  land  whose  child 
and  servant  he  was.  liorn  and  reared  in  Mexico,  hon- 
oretl  l»y  its  important  trusts,  and  writing  the  history 
of  its  independence,  it  was  his  country,  having  for 
him  all  that  makes  country  dear;  and  yet  thus  calmly 
he  consigns  the  present  people  to  oblivion,  while  an- 
other enters  into  those  liapi)y  jdaces  where  luiture  is 
so  bountiful.     And  so  a  Mexican  leaves  the  door  open 


to  the  foreigner. 


CONCLrSION. 


Si'dl  are  jirophetic  voices,  differing  in  character  and 
importance,  lad  nil  linving  one  augury,  and  o])ening  one 
vista,  illimilidilc  in  extent  and  vastness.  Farewell  to 
the  n.'iiTow  l||oiiidd  df  ]\[ontesquieu,  that  a  republic  can 
(w'isi  only  JH  t\  Hinall  territory.  Through  re])resentation 
and  iedi'i'iilhu,  a  continent  is  not  too  much  for  practical 
dominiou.  nor  in  it  beyond  expectation.  Well  did  Web- 
sbi  say,  "  Tlie  pr(/f>heci(>s  and  the  poets  are  with  us." 
And  tb^n  again,  "With  regard  to  this  country  there  is 
no  poetry  like  the  poetry  <»f  events,  and  all  the  prophe- 
cies big  behind  the  fulfdment."  ^     But  my  purpose  is  not 

1  Ili'itoriii,  Tom.  V.  pp.  0.')4.  O.'j.'. 

2  Sfi'^ocli  nt  tlio  Fi'~fivnl  '.f  tlio  Sons  of  New  Hampshire,  7th  NovomI)Oi', 
1849:    Works,  Vol.  II.  pp.  .',10,  611. 


i.. 


CONCLUSION. 


171 


witli  tlie  fulfilment,  except  as  it  .stands  forth  visible 
to  all. 

Ancient  prophecy  foretold  another  world  beyond  the 
ocean,  wliich  in  tlie  ndnd  of  Christoplier  Columbus  was 
notliin'jr  less  than  the  Orient  with  its  inexliaustible 
treasures.  The  continent  was  hardly  known  when  the 
])ro])liets  began,  —  poets  like  ('hapn\aii,  Urayton,  Daniel, 
Herbert,  Cowley,  —  economists  like  ('hild  and  Di'aylon, 
—  Xew-Kn;^landers  like  Morrill,  Ward,  an>l  Sewall, — 
and,  nunuliu'j'  with  these,  that  rare  Lrenius,  Sir  Thomas 
Ih'owne,  who,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  ^\hile  the; 
settlements  were  in  infancy,  jtredicted  their  growth  in 
power  and  civilization;  and  then  that  rarest  charae- 
ter,  Ihshop  lU'rkeley,  who,  in  the  reign  of  (leorge  I., 
while  tlie  settlements  were  still  feeble  and  undevel- 
oped, heralded  a  Western  empire  as  "  Time's  noblest 
offspring." 

These  voices  are  general.  Others  more  ])recise  fol- 
lowed. Turgot,  the  philosopher  and  minister,  saw  in 
youth,  with  the  vision  of  genius,  that  all  colonies  must 
at  their  maturity  drop  from  the  ])arent  stem,  like  ripe 
fruit.  John  Adams,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  our  own  his- 
tory, in  a  youth  illunnned  as  that  of  Turgot,  saw 
the  predominance  of  the  (Adonies  in  ])0])ulation  and 
power,  followed  by  the  transfer  of  empire  to  America  ; 
then  the  glory  of  Independence  and  its  joyous  celebra- 
tion by  grateful  generations  ;  then  the  trium])h  of  our 
language;  and,  hnally,  the  establishment  of  our  i-ejud)- 
lican  institutions  over  all  Xorth  America.  Then  came 
the  Abbe  Oaliani,  the  Xeapolitan  Frenchman,  wlio, 
writing  from  Xai)les  while  our  struggle  was  still  un- 
decided, gayly  predicts  the  total  downfall  of  luirojie, 
the  transmigiation  to  America,  and  the  consummation 


11 


f  '\ 


172 


PROrilETIC   VOICES   CONCERNING   AMERICA. 


of  tliG  ''reatest  revolution  of  the  "loLo  l)v  establisliiiicr 
the  reign  of  Aincrica  over  Europe.  Tliere  is  also  Adam 
Smith,  the  ilhisLrious  })liil(»sopiier,  ^vho  (piietly  earries 
the  seat  of  government  across  the  Atlantic.  jMeanwhih; 
I'ownall,  once  a  colonial  governor  and  then  a  meniher  of 
Parliament,  in  successive  works  of  great  det;iil,  lore- 
shadows  independence,  naval  sujiremacy,  commercial 
prosjterity,  immigration  from  the  Old  World,  and  a  new 
national  lile,  destined  to  sui)erse(le  tlie  systc'ins  of 
PiUro[)e  and  arouse  the  "curses'"  of  royal  ministers. 
Hartley,  also  a  nuunber  of  Parliament,  and  the  P>ritisii 
negotiator  who  signed  the  definitive  treaty  of  Indepen- 
dcmce,  hravelv  annonnces  in  Parliament  that  the  New 
World  is  before  the  Colonists,  and  that  liberty  is  theirs; 
and  afterwards,  as  dijdomatist,  instructs  his  government 
that,  thiough  the  attraction  of  our  public  lands,  immi- 
gration will  be  quickened  beyond  precedent,  and  the 
national  delit  cease  to  be  a  burden.  Aranda,  the 
Spanish  stat(!sman  and  (li{)lomatist,  predicts  to  his  king 
that  the  United  States,  though  born  a  "  pygniy,"  will 
soon  be  a  "  colossus,"  nnder  whose  influence  Spain  will 
lose  all  her  American  possessions  cxce])t  only  Cuba  and 
Porto  Jfico.  Paley,  the  philosopher,  hails  our  success- 
ful revolution  as  destined  to  accelerate  the  fall  of  slav- 
ery, wliich  he  denonnces  as  an  abominable  tvrannv. 
Burns,  the  truthful  ])oet,  who  loved  mankind,  looks  for- 
ward a  hundred  years,  nnd  beliolds  our  people  rejoicing 
in  the  centenary  of  their  independence.  Sheridan  pic- 
tures our  increasing  prosperity,  and  the  national  dignity 
winning  the  respect,  confidence,  and  affection  of  the 
world.  Fox,  the  liberal  statesman,  foresees  the  increas- 
ing might  and  various  relations  of  the  United  States, 
so  that  a  blow  aimed  at  them  must  have  a  rebound  as 


CONCLUSION. 


173 


destructivo  ns  itsolf.  The  Abbi'  (JivLjoirn,  devotud  to 
the  .slave,  whose  IVeedoni  lie  predicts,  descril)es  the 
power  uiid  i^lory  of  th(!  Aiiierieiiii  lt(>puljlie,  restiiiL,^  on 
the  two  great  oceans,  luul  swaying  the  world.  Tardily, 
Jel'ierson  ai)j)ears  with  anxiety  I'or  the  National  Union, 
and  yet  announcing  our  government  as  the  ianiiliar 
and  }>recious  model  to  change  the  condition  ol'  man- 
kind. (,'anning,  the  brilliant  orator,  in  a  much-admired 
ilight  of  elo([U(!nce,  discerns  the  New  World,  with  its 
republics  Just  called  into  being,  redressing  the  balance 
of  the  Old.  De  Toc(pieville,  while;  clearly  ibr(!seeing 
the  peril  from  slavery,  proclaims  the  i'uture  grandeur  of 
the  Jie])ublic,  covering  "  almost  all  North  America," 
and  making  the  continent  its  domain,  witli  a  ])o'i)n- 
lation,  e(jual  in  rights,  counted  by  tiie  hundred  mil- 
lion, ('obden,  whose  fanu;  will  be  second  only  to  that 
of  Adam  Smith  among  all  in  this  catalogue,  calmly  pi'c- 
dicts  the  separation  of  Canada  from  the  mother  country 
by  peaceal)le  mean.s.  Alaman,  the  Mexican  statesman 
and  historian,  announces  that  Mexico,  which  has  already 
known  so  many  successive  races,  will  hereafter  l)e  ruled 
by  yet  another  people,  taking  the  place  of  the  ])resent 
possessors  ;  and  with  these  ])ro})hetic  words,  the  jiatriot 
draws  a  pall  over  his  country. 

All  these  various  voices,  of  different  times  and  lands, 
mingle  and  intertwine  in  rejnusenting  the  great  fu- 
ture of  our  Republic,  which  from  .laiall  beginnings  has 
already  become  great.  It  was  at  iirst  o)dy  a  grain 
of  nnistard-seed,  "  wjiich  is,  indeetl,  the  least  of  all 
seeds  ;  but  when  it  is  grown,  it  is  the  greatest  among 
herbs,  and  becomes  a  tree,  so  that  the  birds  of  the  air 
come  and  lodge  in  tiie  branches  thereof."  Jietter  still, 
it  was  only  a  little  leaven,  but  it  is  fast  leavening  the 


« 


I 

if 


1' 
:i 
t 
■)■'•  ■' 


174 


riloniETIC   VOICES   concerning   AMERICA. 


whole  continent.  Nearly  all  \\  i  luive  prophesied 
sj)eiik  of  "America"  or  "  Nortii  America,"  and  not  of 
any  limited  circle,  colony,  or  state.  It  was  so,  at  the 
heginnin;.;-,  with  Sir  Tiiomas  Ih'owne,  and  especially  with 
Jjurkeley.  During  our  licvolution  tiie  Colonies,  struL^- 
gling  for  in(lc])endence,  were  always  de8cril)ed  by  tiiis 
continental  designation.  They  were  already  "  America," 
or  "  Xorth  America,"  (and  such  was  the  language  of 
Wasliington,)  thus  incidentally  foresliadowing  tliat  com- 
ing time  when  the  wliole  continent,  with  all  its  vari- 
ous states,  shall  be  a  Plural  Unit,  with  one  Consti- 
tution, one  Liberty,  and  one  Destiny.  The  theme  was 
also  taken  up  by  the  poet,  and  popularized  in  the  often- 
(pioted  lines  :  — 

"  No  j't'iit-iip  t'tica  contracts  your  powers, 
But  tlie  wliole  bomidli.'ss  continent  is  yours."! 

Such  grandeur  may  justly  excite  anxiety  ratlier  than 
pride, for  duties  are  in  corresponding  ]»roportion.  There 
is  occasion  for  humility  also,  as  tlie  individual  consid- 
ers his  own  insignificance  in  the  transcendent  mass. 
The  tiny  poly]),  in  unconscious  life,  builds  the  ever- 
lasting coral ;  each  cith^en  is  little  more  tlian  the  in- 
dustrious insect.  Tlie  result  is  reached  by  the  con- 
tinuity of  combined  exertion.  Millions  of  citizens, 
working  in  obedience  to  nature,  can  accom^dish  any- 
thing. 

Of  course,  war  is  an  instrumentality  which  true  civ- 
ilization disowns.  Here  some  of  our  ])ropliets  have 
erred.  Sii-  Thomas  Browne  was  so  much  overshadowed 
by  his  own  age,  that  his  vision  was  darkened  by  "great 
armies,"  and   even  "  hostile   and  piratical  attacks '"  on 

1  By  Jonathan  M.  Scwall,  in  an  epilogue  to  Addison's  Tragedy  of  "  Cato," 
wiitteu  in  1778  for  the  Bow  Street  Theatre,  Portsmouth,  N.  U, 


■f' 


CONCLUSION. 


175 


Europe.  Tt  was  natural  tliat  Arauda,  schooled  in  worldly 
life,  should  iiiia<;ine  the  new-horn  power  ready  to  seize 
tlie  S})anish  ])ossessi()ns.  Anion;^'  our  own  countrvnien, 
Jell'erson  looked  to  war  I'or  the  extension  ot"  dominion. 
The  Fh)ridas,  he  says  on  one  occasion,  "are  ours  on  tiie 
first  monieiit  of  war,  and  until  a  war  tiiey  are  of  no 
particular  necessity  to  us."^  Happily  they  were  ac- 
(juired  in  anotlu^r  way.  Then  ai^ain,  while  <l<'clarin.if 
that  no  constitution  was  ever  hefore  so  calculated  as 
ours  for  extensive  empire  and  self-government,  and  in- 
sisting upon  Canada  as  a  com[)onent  ])art,  ho  cahuly 
says  that  "this  would  be,  of  course,  in  the  first  war."^ 
Afterwards,  while  confessing  a  longing  for  ('iil.i,  '-as 
the  most  interesting  addition  that  could  ever  be  made 
to  our  system  of  States,"  he  says  that  "  he  is  s*,-nsihle 
this  can  never  be  obtained,  c^ en  with  lu-r  own  con- 
sent, without  war."^  'I'lius  at  each  slage  is  the  bap- 
tism of  blood.  In  much  better  mood  (he  poet  Itishop 
recognized  empiri;  as  moving  gently  in  the  ])athway 
of  liglit.  All  this  is  much  clearer  now  than  when  he 
pro])hesied. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  empire  obtained  by  force  is  un- 
re])ublican,  and  oH'ensive  to  the  first  i)rinciplc  of  our 
Union,  according  to  which  nil  just  government  stands 
only  on  the  consent  of  (he  governed.  Our  c()untry 
needs  no  such  ally  as  Mar.  Its  destiny  is  mightier  than 
war.  Through  peace  it  will  have  everything..  This  is 
our  talisman.  (Jive  us  peace,  and  jiopuhition  will  in- 
crease beyond  all  experience  ;  resoui'ces  of  all  kinds 
will  multiply  inlinitely ;  arts  Avill  embellish  the  land 


Ml 


1  Complete  Works,  Vv\\.  V.  p.  444. 

2  Ibid. 

8  Ibid.,  Vol.  VII.  p.  316.     See  also  pp.  288,  299. 


176 


niOrilETIC   VOICKS   CUNCEUNING   AMElilCA. 


with  iimnortal  beauty;  tliu  iiamo  of  liepublic  will  bu 
exulted,  until  every  iiei^libur,  yielding  to  irresistible 
attraetion,  seeks  new  lii'e  in  beeoniing  part  of  tlie 
great  whole ;  and  the  national  example  will  be  more 
])uissant  than  army  or  uavy  lor  the  concj[iiest  of  the 
world. 


m 


m 


■•*.•;•■ 


'i 


THE   END. 


Cambridge  :  Electrotyped  and  printed  by  Welch,  Bigelow,  &  Co. 


"  Xot  ordiiiari/  aihlresses,  —  tln'if  remind  us  ralhcr  of  tlw  «)/v/i'/o;j.s  of  ])(•• 
viosf/ie.ni'S,  —  of  limes  irhni  iiirn  of'  iiof( ,  endoiiU'il  with  the  hiijlicst  tmiler- 
stniidiiH/,  (j(ivifi(H  vent  to  the  /'ef/iii(/s  tlnit  posaesstd  t/iem,  and  stirred  their 
count rif  irith  a  Jtrrid  e/o</iietice  which  iima  nil  the  more  impri'stiive  hn-aitse  it 
rildted  to  the  jmlitical  circumstances  in  which  their  country  was  p/aciil."  — 
EdINIJUUUU   .JotUNAL. 


THE   COMPLETE    WORKS 


OF 


CHARLES    SUMNER, 

In  Twelve  elegant  Crow^n  8vo  Volumes,  -with  Portrait, 

Notes,  and  Index. 


Price  per  volume.  Fine  English  Cloth $3.00 

"        "        "  Half  Calf,  Ciilt  Extra,  Library  Edition     5.00 


rUBLlSIIED   BY 


LEE    -AND    SHEl^ARD, 

Nos.  41-45  Franklin  Street,  Boston. 


II 


•  I 


4 


Will 


'  •  ;  u 


'i. 


V 


Ef;! 

.  1 , .-. 


ti  <■ 


ANNOUNCEMENT. 

Mkssus.  LKH  &  SIIKI»ARI)  it'sptct fully  aii- 
nouiicu  (]»(3  coiilimiiitioii  and  early  roinj)li'ti()ii  of 

THE  WORKS  OF  CHAELES  SUMNEE. 

The  oiigiiial  j)iosj)ectus  was  issueil  when  thu  dis- 
liiiyiiisht'd  orator  and  stutL'sinaii  was  in  tiu'  midst  of 
liis  lionoralilu  (uirocr,  and  had  apparently  iiuforc 
liini  all  the  cvcninL;'  of  his  life,  for  ihu  revision  of 
his  Orations,  Si^KiocirEs,  and  Addukssks.  No(- 
withstundinL"'  his  ini|tairi'd  health,  he  had  lahored 
with  assiduity  to  arrani;e  and  perfect  (hem:  ami 
l)efore  his  death  Nink  V'oli'MKS  luul  l»een  i»ul)lished, 
and  liu;  tenth  was  ,L;iven  to  the  printers.  Materials 
for  two  or  more  voUnnes,  carefully  i)i-eparcd  hy  him- 
self, are  now  in  the  hands  of  friends  who  are  fidly 
acipuiinted  with  his  opinions,  and  familiar  with  his 
intellectual  methods. 

From  the  time  of  his  election,  in  iSol,  to  the  U.  S. 
Senate,  Charles  Sumner  was  constantly  hefore  the 
public  as  the  leader  and  representative  of  the  party 
of  freedom;  and  the  volumes  of  his  speeches  form 
of  themselves  a  history  of  the  United  States  for 
over  twenty  years.  It  is  seldom  that  the  lifetime 
of  one  man,  still  less  the  period  of  his  public  ser- 
vices, includes  the  beginning  and  end  of  a  contro- 
versy, so  momentous  in  (diaracter,  so  far-reaching  in 
effect,  as  that  which  has  lately  resulted  hi  cstaljlishing 
the  d(     rine  that  ^'Freedom  is  National."' 


: ; 


The  foiindors  of  the  r('j)iil)li('  hit  (Icscrvcdly  Ikmj- 
^)r('(l  ;  l)iif  the  ufieat  k'luh'is  in  the  [)H\i\  of  •  '|U;il 
ri,L;hts,  wlinse  luhors  hiive  ^ueii  us  a  eoimtry  worth 
liviiijj;  fur,  and  worth  dyini;'  to  defend,  niii>l  ehdni 
e([ual  li(»nor  and  L;ratitu(h!  from  the  [tresent  genera- 
tion and  from  jtosterit^. 

The  value  of  Mr.  Sumner's  works  to  students  of 
political  histoiy,  to  selndars,  and  all  lovers  of  litera- 
ture, eannot  well  he  o\  er-estiniated.     They   will   he 


,'1( 


d 


d  •  f  (he  1( 


(1   bril- 


weieonied  as  a  lilim:^  memorial  <  i  iiie  lonj^'-  and   hrii 
liant  services  of  tlie  man  whose  name  and  fame  are  a 
part  of  the  renown  of  his  country. 

This  edition,  of  which  nine  \  ■lumes  arc;  now 
ready  for  delivery  to  sul)seril>ers,  will  he  eleuantly 
printed  on  tinted  and  plated  paper,  from  new  type> 
Avill  contain  an  accurate  portrait  of  Mr.  Sumner,  and 
will  he  furnished  with  a  complete  analytical  and 
topical  index. 


SOLD  o\LY  m    srnscHiPTToy. 

LEE    AND  SllEPAKI),   I'h'.mshkhs, 

^io8.   11-4.')  Friiiiklin  Strrct. 

BUTLER  AND  FLEETWOOD,  General  Agents, 

No.  47  Franklin  Street,  Boston. 

in?  "  ■If/''"'*'  of  vjcpffhurt'  tniil  <fii>arift/  irautfd  tlirouy/tout  t/m 
Uititvd  StntvH. 


IX  rUKPAUATIOX. 
THE    ONLY   AUTHORIZED 

LIFE  OF  CILVKLKS  SIGNER 


? 


From  materials  left  in  tlie  hands  of  his  litevnry  oxecutors 
hy  the  distinLinished  Senator.  It  will  Le  issued  at  \va  earl}' 
day,  and  will  be  uniform  with  the  (Jompleto  W(jrks  ii^w  in 
course  of  preparation. 


^, 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


21    125 


2.2 


1-    ^ 


|2£ 

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Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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Tlie  PuLlisliGrs  invite  attention  to  the  following  ex- 
tracts taken  from  the  mass  (jf  comnuinications  and  tes- 
timonials received  from  prominent  and  leading  men  on 
botli  sides  of  the  Atlantic  :  — 

From  Francis  Lieher. 

The  eonipleto  v/orks  of  Seuiitor  Siiiniior  Avill  have  a  \\\p\\  value 
for  the  earnest  stu(l<-nt  who  (h;sh'es  to  traee  the  causes  of  some 
of  tlie  fjriMitest  inoveiuents  in  our  times,  —  the  times  of  pohtieal 
R(!formation.  They  will  have  a  fjreat  value  in  point  of  Political 
Ethics,  of  Statesmanship  (or  what  the  ancients  called  Polities), 
aixl  ill  point  of  the  ]\sycholofjy  of  our  own  nation,  in  point  of 
the  Law  of  Nations  and  for  every  Enf,dish  scholar  and  admirer  of 
eloquence.  Not  only  will  the  works  of  Senator  Sunnier,  after 
whose  title,  in  Rome,  the  words  "  Four  Times  in  Succession  " 
would  have  heen  put,  be  <.dadly  received  l)y  every  reflecting  pub- 
lic man  in  America,  but  also  by  every  high-minded  Nationalist 
ana  lover  of  freedom  in  Europe, 


From  William  Cullen  Bryant. 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  Mr.  Sumner's  works  are  to  be  collected 
ftud  published  under  his  own  superintendence  and  revision.  He 
ranks  among  our  most  eminent  public  men,  and  never  treats  of 
any  subject  without  shedding  new  light  upon  it,  and  giving  us 
reason  to  admire  both  his  ability  and  the  extent  and  accuracy  of 
his  information. 


From  Ralph   Waldo  Emerson. 

I  learn  with  interest  that  you  are  preparing  to  publish  a  com- 
plete collection  of  Mr.  Sunuier's  writings  and  speeches.  They 
will  be  the  history  of  the  Repu!)lic  in  the  last  twenty-five  years, 
as  told  by  a  brave,  perfectly  honest,  and  well-instructed  man,  with 
large  social  culture,  and  relations  to  all  eminent  persons.  Few 
public  men  have  left  records  more  important,  — none  more  blame- 
less. Mr.  Sumner's  large  ability,  his  careful  education,  his  Indus- • 
try,  his  earl}'^  dedication  to  public  afl\iirs.  his  power  of  exhaustive 


?- 
$ 


statement,  and  liis  pure  eliaraeter, — qualities  ran^ly  eonOiinci]  in 
one  man,  —  liave  been  the  wtrentjth  and  pride  of  tlie  Repuhlic 
In  Mat^saeliusetts,  the  patriotism  of  his  eonstituents  has  treated 
him  Avith  exceptional  regard.  The  ordinary  complaisances  ex- 
pected of  a  candidate  have  not  been  required  of  liim,  it  being 
known  that  his  service  was  one  of  incessant  labor,  and  that  he  l>ad 
small  leisure  to  plead  his  own  cause,  and  N'ss  to  mu'sc  his  privat(! 
interests.  There  will  be  the  more  need  of  the  careful  publication  iti 
a  permanent  form  of  these  vindications  of  political  liberty  and 
morality, 

I  hope  that  Mr.  Sun  ner's  contributions  to  some  literary  journals 
will  not  be  omitted  in  your  collection. 


From  John  G.   Whittier. 

It  gives  me  much  satisfaction  to  learn  that  the  entire  speeches 
of  Mr,  Sumner  are  about  to  be  published.  Apart  from  their  great 
merit  in  a  literary  and  scholastic  point  of  view,  and  as  exhaust ivo 
arguments  upon  questions  of  the  highest  unport,  they  have  a  cer- 
tain liistoric  value  which  will  increase  with  the  lapse  of  time. 
Whoever  wishes  to  understand  the  legislation  and  political  and 
moral  progress  of  the  country  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century, 
must  stuily  these  remarkable  speeches.  I  am  heartily  glad  the 
publication  has  been  determined  upon,  and  wish  it  the  success  it 
deserves.  • 


From  Horace  Greeletj. 
I  hail  it  as  a  cheering  sign  of  the  times  that  the  speeches  and 
writings  of  Charles  Sunnier  are  to  be  published  complete.  We  live 
in  an  ago  of  inconsiderate  gabble,  when  too  many  make  speeches 
"  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,"  and  "  now  that  I  am  up,"  say 
whatever  may  chance  to  come  into  their  heads.  Mr.  Sumner  suf- 
ficiently respects  his  associates  and  his  coiniti'ynien  to  speak  with 
due  preparation,  and  only  when  he  feels  that  silence  would  be 
dereliction.  "  Not  to  stir  without  great  argmnents  "  is  his  rule  ; 
hence  his  speeches  are  not  only  a  part  of  his  country's  history,  but 
a  very  creditable  and  instructive  part  of  it.  In  an  age  of  venality 
and  of  reckless  calumny,  no  man  has  ever  doubted  the  purity  of 
his  motives,  the  singleness  of  his  aims  ;  and  if  the  august  title  of 


statosinan  has  boon  dfsorvod  liy  any  Amcrifan  of  liis  apfc,  lie  is 
tliat  Atncrii'aii.  1  trust  his  colh'ctcMl  wiiUiij^s  will  receive;  widt; 
currency,  a.s  lunisure  they  will  eoinuuind  universal  consideration. 


M; 


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■il 


From  Samuel  G.  J  Luc.. 
I  think  that  your  jtrnposed  edition  oC  ^fr.  Suninor's  Spoofhos 
will  do  much  ^'ood.  Jlis  puljlic  career  tcaiihes  a  lesson  whii-h 
should  he  learned  I)y  all  who  aspire  to  usefulness  and  true  <j;reat- 
ness.  The  souice  oi'  hi.-;  po|)ularity  and  inilueneo,  creditable  alike 
to  him  and  to  the  p('0])le,  is  an  intuitive  peree[)tion  oi'  the  right 
and  lirm  I'aith  in  its  i)revalenee.  I'o  him,  whatever  is  ri<,dit  is  ever 
cxiiedient.  He  the  jxtlitieal  hoiizon  ever  so  dark,  he  knows  the 
direction  of  the  pole-star,  aiid  steers  l)oldly  towtirils  it.  In  oppos- 
ing? storms,  while  ordinary  politicians,  like  sailiiif^-  ships,  tack  and 
keep  as  near  the  wind  as  seems  sal'e,  he,  lik(!  the  ^teamer,  steers 
straiji'ht  in  the  wind's  eye;  and  thouj^h  lu-  may,  for  the  nionieut, 
make  no  headway,  he  swerves  not,  larboard  nor  starboard.  Most 
statesmen  and  politicians  represent  cei'tain  docti'ines  or  pai'ty  in- 
terests; while  he  represents  the  moral  sense  of  the  peo])le.  Where 
that  sense  is  most  developed,  there  he  is  best  understood  and  most 
esteemed.  A  new  edition  of  his  8|)eeches  will  help  to  dcveh)p  it 
still  nioi'e;  and  it  is  for  that  end,  rather  tlian  building  a  mon- 
ument to  him,  that  his  friends  ought  to  co-operate  for  your  suc- 
cess. 


i 


From  Caleh  dishing. 
I  think  the  speeches,  discourses,  and  miscellanoous  papers  of 
Mr.  Sumner  eminently  deser'-'c  to  l)e  collected  and  published  in 
a  complete  form.  "Whatever  difTerence  of  opinion  there  may  be 
in  the  country  concerning  the  various  ])olitical  doctrines  which 
in  his  long  Senatoi'ial  career  lie  has  so  earnestly  and  so  steadily 
maintained,  certain  it  is  that  his  productions  constitute  an  essen- 
tial part  of  our  public  history  as  avcU  in  foreign  as  in  domestic 
relati(Mis;  niid  they  are  characteriziMl  by  such  qualities  of  supe- 
rior intelleclual  power,  cultivated  eloquence,  and  great  and  general 
accomplishment  and  statesmanship,  as  entitle  them  to  a  high 
and  permanent  place  in  the  political  literature  of  the  United 
States. 


From  Jumcs  Russell  Lowell. 

I  am  pi'livl  to  hear  that  yoii  have  uiidfrtakou  ai)  tMlitioii  of  Mr. 
Suiiiiicr's  ('(jllectrd  woi'ks.  TIr'Ih;  is  a  iiiaiiilt'st  |)r()iiri('ty  in  this, 
Cor  not  only  lias  he  niailc  many  cDntrihution-;  to  litcratnn'  jtropfr. 
but  his  sprccjics  iiavr  liccii  clahoratctl  wiih  so  much  can*,  ami 
ilhisti-atcd  Iroiii  so  widf  a  licld  of  n-adinL"".  that  letters  claim  in 
them  an  ciiual  sliaie  with  politics.  Whatever  \ie\v  may  he  tak<'n 
vi'  them,  they  form  an  essenlial  part  of  <jnr  history  for  the  last 
twenty  years. 

Thon^ih  I  have  sometimes  heen  nnal)le  to  fo  alon^r  with  Mi'. 
Snnmer  in  his  a]»])lication  ol"  opinions,  with  which  I  inaiidy  atrrced. 
to  (piestionsof  innnediate  policy,  I  have  alwavs  dnlv  honore(|  the 
sincerity  of  his  convictions,  and  his  louraiic  in  maintaininLT  them. 
A  lil'e  of  hi^h  aims,  pnlilic  pm-p. )ses,  and  snstained  inte;^rity,  has 
been  fully  rewurdi-d  hy  a  constituency  of  which  that  which  he 
represents  in  the  Senate  forms  but  a  small  portion,  ami  I  camiot 
doubt  that  yoni-  enterprise  will  be  welcomed  as  it  deserves  liy  all 
who  know  huw  to  a])|)reciate  an  elo(|Uence  which  has  so  largely 
conlhied  itself  to  the  discussion  of  principles,  and  a  culture  which 
is  an  ornament  to  the  Senate, 


From  George  William  Curtis. 

I  am  very  ^\ni\  to  learn  that  the  com[>lete  works  of  Charles 
Sunnier  will  soon  be  puljlishetl. 

Afr.  Sunmer's  public  life  has  been  illustrious  for  his  unswervin<r 
devotion  to  human  liberty,  and  his  service  in  the  irrcat  stru<f<>le 
of  the  last  twenty  yars  will  l;e  always  frratefully  remembered. 
Even  the  qualities  that  now  alienate  a  cci'tain  sympathy  will  then 
be  seen  to  have  been  necessary  to  his  work. 

His  speeches  are  an  essential  part  of  the  history  of  those  times, 
and  arc  (listin,f;uished  by  their  ampl(>  knowled^'e  and  their  lofty 
tone.  There  is  no  American  citizen  who  may  not  study  his  works 
with  instruction,  no  Ameri(,'an  statesjnau  who  may  not  eontem- 
pla^.e  his  career  with  advantage. 


I;' 


i-l' 


m 


fi 


I 


8 


From  Boijnmin  F.  Butler. 

I  am  much  ploasod  to  Icaiii  that  a  coiuplt  to  compUation  of  Mr. 
Sumner's  speeches  and  letters  is  to  he  puhlishech 

Tliey  are  a  (h'sideratinn  I'or  the  times.  The  history  of  the  anti- 
slaveiy  contest  in  Conj^'ress  is  thci'cin  wi'itten  in  hvinjf  lanj,nia<,'o, 
hocauHC  eaeli  spoeeh  made  of  itsell'  an  epoch  in  the  struj,'<^lo.  Tho 
almost  providential  accident  of  one  vote  <j;ave  to  Mr.  Sunmer  tho 
position  ol  leader  in  the  ^n'cat  work  whicii  has  pMr^-e(l  tho  institu- 
tions, the  veiy  constitution  of  the  country,  ii-oni  the  sin  and  wronj^ 
(»f  slavi'ry  ;  and  uohjy  has  ho  (illc<l  it ;  heiter,  indeed,  than  could 
have  heeii  done  hy  any  other  man  in  the  nation.  Tho  virulent  op- 
position ■which  lio  mot  in  the  jjreat  task  which  ho  undertook  re- 
quired his  varied  accomplishments  and  learninjjr,  his  untiring 
industry,  and  unsworviu<i^  devotion  to  principle,  —  ipialitios  sel- 
dom united  in  one.  The  history  of  the  ri'<i-encrati('n.  of  lio{)uldican 
Democracy  in  tho  western  world  Avould  not  bo  comploto  without 
tho  volumes  you  aro  about  to  publish. 


From  II envy  Wilson. 

I  am  really  <rratiri(>d  to  learn  that  you  arc  to  publish  the  com- 
ploto woi'ks  of  ^[r.  Sumner,  under  his  own  supervision.  Durinfj^ 
tho  pa.st  twenty-live  years  I  have  known  him,  watched  his  coufso 
as  a  public  man,  heard  and  read  h's  speeches,  and  know  how  ho 
has  consecrated  talents  and  learning  to  tho  rights  of  man  and  tho 
onduiing  interests  of  his  country.  Ilis  speeches  have  largely  con- 
tributed to  i>roduce  tho  grand  results  that  cheer  and  bless  us,  and 
I  am  sure  they  will  be  read  Avith  increasing  interest,  not  only  for 
tho  topics  discussed,  but  for  their  learning  and  eloquence. 


From  Wendell  Phillips. 

I  am  glad  you  are  to  give  us  a  complete  collection  of  Mr.  Sum- 
ner's S[)eeehes.  His  part  and  place  have  been  such  in  the  last 
twenty  years,  that  his  career  is  largely  the  history  of  the  Nation. 
His  speeches  cover  the  most  im]>ortant  and  interesting  questions 
we  have  been  called  to  meet.  Years  ago  the  easy  sneer  was  that 
he  was  a  man  of  "  one  idea,"  —  dealt  only  with  one  question,  or 
(>ne  class  of  questions. 


9 

But  "Mr.  Sumnor  lias  boon  ono  of  (lio  most  indiistrions,  perhaps 
tlie  most  industrious,  Senator  tliat  Massachusotts  has  ever  ^nvcn 
to  the  national  councils.  His  mind  has  hccu  moro  comprciicusivo 
tnan  that  of  any  of  liis  predecessors,  lie  has  1,'rappled  witii  ail 
the  «rreat  prohlenis  of  the  day  ;  and  so  thoroughly,  so  exhaustively, 
as  to  leave  nothing,'  to  desire. 

Accurate,  profoundly  learned,  always  in  the  van,  fearless,  wield- 
in;/  a  most  connnandinj,'  influence,  his  speeches  will  be  the  most 
valuable  contribution  possible  to  the  literature  of  polities  and  re- 
I'oirn.  They  have  "  made  history,"  and  will  naturally  be  the  best 
ri'liance  of  those  Avho  shall  study  our  times,  as  his  career  will  be, 
both  for  students  and  statesmen,  one  of  the  noblest  examples. 


By  Hon.  John  P.  Hair,  in  (he  Untied  States  Senate,  Auf/ust  27, 
1851,  in  the  debate  after  Mr.  Sumner's  Speech  entitled  "  Freedom  Xa- 
tional,  Slavery  Sectional." 

I  feel  bound  to  say  that  the  Honorable  Senator  from  Massachu- 
setts has,  so  far  as  his  own  personal  fame  and  reputation  are  con- 
cerned, done  enou<rh,  by  the  eflbrt  he  has  made  hei'e  to-day  to 
place  himself  side  by  side  with  the  first  orators  of  antitpnty,  and 
as  far  ahead  of  any  livint,^  American  orator  as  freedom  is  ahead  of 
slavery,  I  believe  he  has  founded  a  new  era  to-day  in  the  history 
of  the  politics  and  of  the  eloquence  of  the  country;  and  that,  in 
future  generations,  the  young  men  of  this  nation  will  be  stim- 
ulated to  efibrt  by  the  record  of  what  an  American  Senator  has 
this  day  done,  to  which  all  the  appeals  drawn  from  ancient  history 
■would  1)0  entirely  inadequate.  Yes,  sir,  he  has  to-day  made  a 
draft  upon  the  gratitude  of  the  friends  of  humanity  and  of  liberty 
that  will  not  be  jiaid  through  many  generations,  and  the  memory 
of  which  shall  endure  as  long  as  the  English  language  is  spoken, 
or  the  history  of  this  Republic  forms  part  of  the  annals  of  the 
world.  That,  sir,  is  what  I  feel,  and  if  I  had  one  other  feeling, 
or  could  indulge  in  it  in  reference  to  that  effort,  it  would  l)e  a 
feeling  ahvay,  that  it  was  not  in  me  to  tread,  even  at  a  humlile 
distance,  in  the  path  he  has  so  nobly  and  eloquently  illustrated. 


■ 


10 


From  Ilnntnhil  Ihtmlin, 

I  learn  witli  proat  pleasure  that  the  coinplelo  works  of  Hon. 
Charles  Sumner  are  being  now  prepared,  and  will  soon  bo  pul)- 
lisl.rd. 

The  lii^'-h  position  which  Mr.  Sinnner  has  so  Vn\\f  and  so  honor- 
ably maintaincMl  as  one  of  the  leading  minds  of  the  nation,  his  in- 
timate eoimeetion  with  and  lead  in  the  grei'.t  nieasiwo  of  the 
abujition  of  slavery,  and  all  the  great  (piesfions  of  the  late  war, 
and  those  involvcjd  in  a  just  settlement  of  the  same,  render  it  a 
desideratum  that  his  works  should  be  published. 


[  f 


From  S.  A  ustin  Allibone. 

I  have  been  in  the  habit  Ibr  some  years  past,  from  time  to  time, 
of  ni'ging  my  valued  i'riend,  Mr.  Sunnier,  to  publish  a  eolleetive 
edition  of  his  speeehes.  You  may  therefore  imagine  the  pleasure 
with  which  I  have  received  the  announcement  that  you  are  now 
engaged  in  the  publication  of  a  uniform  edition  ol"  his  comi)l(.'te 
works. 

One  of  th(>  favorite  pu[)ils  of  Judge  Story,  who  considered  him 
rather  fis  a  son  than  as  his  pupil  (see  Story's  Life  and  Letters,  Vol.  I L 
p.  30),  the  endeared  fiiend  of  Pi'escott,  Wheaton,  the  Karl  of  Car- 
lisle, and  many  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic,  Mr.  Sumner's  op])ortunities  of  instruction  by  con- 
tact with  great  minds  have  mat-.n-ed  the  scholarship  of  which  the 
broad  and  deep  foundations  Avere  laid  in  the  laboiious  days  and 
nights  of  coll(>giate  and  pi-ivate  application. 

The  "  fulness  "  of  his  mind  and  the  ease  with  which  he  draws  from 
the  vast  stores  of  memory  "  things  new  and  old  "  to  illustrate  the 
truths  Avhich  he  enforces,  the  errors  he  exposes,  or  the  themes  he 
propounds,  are  indeed  marvellous!  See  for  instance,  his  oration, 
entitled,  "  The  Scliolar,  the  Jurist,  the  Artist,  the  Philanthropist," 
(1840),  of  which  Prescott  wrote :  "  I  have  read  or  rather  listened  to 
it,  notes  and  all,  with  the  greatest  interest ;  and  Avhen  I  say  that 
my  expectations  have  not  been  disappointed  after  having  heard  it 
cracked  up  so,  I  think  you  Avill  think  it  praise  enough.  The 
most  happy  conception  has  been  carried  out  admiral)ly,  as  if  it 
W(M'e  the  most  natural  order  of  th'ugs,  without  the  least  co  -i  liut 
or  violence."    (Ticknor's  Life  of  Prescott,  ]).  378.)    Among  his  late 


m 


11 


spccM'lics,  tiiko  liis  p^rapliut  and  ulowiiij,'  porlriiitiirc  of  Alaska,  over 
tlio  st('i'il(!  soil  of  which  tlic  li;^lit  of  his  p'liiiis  has  cast  a  ;,'lo\v  of 
hlot)in  and  licanty ;  which  as  a  tj:co|.'ra|ihical  and  topo^n-apiiical 
monograph  niigiil  have  excited  the  envy  of  1/Anville  or  Hum- 
boldt. A  complete  eoUectitjn  of  his  works,  fully  rounded  liy  a 
copious  analytical  index  of  sulijeets  discussed,  topics  I'cferi'cd  to, 
nnd  facts  adduced,  would  he  an  invaluable  IreudUry  to  thi!  scholar, 
the  historian,  and  thu  {general  reader. 


From  Edwin  P.    Whipple. 

I  am  f^dad  to  hear  that  a  complete  edition  of  Senator  Sumner's 
works  is  to  be  published. 

Not  to  speak  of  the  eminent  literary  inei-it  of  his  speeches  and 
addresses,  they  arc  specially  valualtlc  as  having;  contributed  in  an  ini- 
jtortant  dc^-n-e  to  ''  inaki;  history  "  during  the  past  twenty-live 
years.  Many  of  his  senatorial  ellbi-ts  ai'c  not  so  nuich  speeches  as 
events.  They  have  J)a]pably  advanced  the  cause  of  honesty,  jus- 
tice, freedom,  and  humanity.  It  is  to  the  imniense  honor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts that  slu!  has  had  IbrsoloiiL;'  a  lime  so  udIiIc  a  icprcsenta- 
tive  in  Washington  of  her  sentiments  and  ideas,  —  one  whose 
abundant  learning,  richness  and  reach  of  thought,  and  statesman- 
like; forethought  are  combined  with  a  i)hilanthro[)y  so  I'raidv  and 
a  spirit  so  intrepid. 

A  complete  e(lition  of  th(>  woi'ks  of  a  statesman  so  variously 
endowed,  and  who  has  treated  so  many  sulijeets  with  such  a  mas- 
terly connnand  of  knowledge,  reasoning,  and  eloquence,  cannot 
fail  to  be  widely  (urcnlated. 


From  If  lint's  Merchants'  Magazine. 

The  Orations  of  Mr.  Sunmer  belong  to  the  literature  of  Amer- 
ica, They  are  as  far  superior  to  the  endless  number  of  orations 
and  speeches  which  are  delivered  throughout  the  country  as  the 
works  of  a  polished,  talented,  and  accomplished  author  sm-pass 
the  ephemeral  productions  of  a  day.  Pure  and  highly  classical 
in  style,  strong  in  argument,  and  rich  and  glowing  in  imagery, 
and  in  some  parts  almost  reaching  the  poetic,  they  come  to  the 
reader  always  fresh,  always  interesting  and  attractive.  In  one 
respect  these  orations  surpass  almost  all  others.  It  is  in  the  ek.'- 
vation  of  sentiment,  the  high  and  lofty  moral  tone  and  grandeur 


12 


of  tlion^/lit  wliich  tlu'v  possess.  In  tliis  particuliir,  united  with 
their  lilciiiiy  tiicrit,  these  j)fo(Uietions  hiive  no  eciuiil  iiinon^'  us. 
Tile  one  on  tlif  '' Ti'U(!  <Jran(li'ur  of  Xiitii»ns  "  stands  t'ortli  liy 
itsell"  lilve  u  serene  and  majestic  inia;_''e,  cut  li-oni  tlie  purest  I'arian 
inarlile.  Tliose  on  "  I'eaee  and  War,"  and  two  or  tliree  otliers, 
possps.s  equal  merit,  ('([uul  heauty,  and  equal  purity  and  dif,niity 
ol'  tliou^iit.  In  oiu'  view,  these  orations  approach  nearer  tho 
modi'ls  oi'  anti(|uity  tlian  those  of  any  other  wi'iter  ainon<,'st  u.s, 
unless  it  Ik'  Welister,  wiioin  Sumner  greatly  surpasses  in  moral 
tone  and  dignity  of  thought. 


Many  of  the  distinguUhcd  sfatesmen  and  scholars  of  our  country^ 

non  deceased,  lejl  on  record  their  opinion  of  the  character  and  value 

of  Mr.    Sumner's  public  services.     From  amony   these  a  few  are 

selected. 

From  John  Quincy  Adams. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Sunnier  innnediutely  after  the  de- 
livery of  tli(!  celeljrated  oration,  "  The  Seiiolar,  tlie  Artist,  tho 
Jurist,  the  JMiilanthropist,"  Mr.  Adams  remarks:  — 

"  It  is  a  gratification  to  ni(!  to  liave  the  opportunity  to  repeat 
the  thaid\s  whicli  I  so  cordially  gave  you  at  the  close  of  your  ora- 
tion last  Thursday,  and  of  Avhich  the  sentiment  oHered  by  me  at 
the  dimier-tal)le,*  was  hut  an  additional  pulsati(»n  from  the  same 
head.  I  trust  I  may  now  congratulate  you  on  the  felicity,  lirst  of 
your  selection  of  your  subject,  and  secondly,  by  its  consununation 
in  the  deliverv.  But  vou  will  induljre  me  in  the  frankness  and 
candor,  Avhicii  if  they  had  not  been  the  laws  of  a  long  life,  would 
yet  be  imperative  duties  on  its  last  stage,  in  tlu;  remark  that  the 
])U'asure  with  which  I  listened  to  your  discourse  was  inspired  lar 
less  liy  the  success,  and  all  but  universal  acceptance  and  applause 
of  the  present  moment,  than  by  the  vista  of  the  future  Avhich  it 
opened  to  my  view.  Casting  my  eyes  back  no  further  than  tho 
Fourth  of  July  of  the  last  year,  when  you  set  all  the  vipers  of 
Alecto  hissing,  by  proclaiming  the  Christian  law  of  Fniversal 
Peace  and  Love,  and  then  casting  them  forward  perhaps,  not  much 

*  TliP  eoiitimont -wns,  —  "The  memory  of  tlie  Scholar,  the  Jurist,  the 
Artist,  !Ui(l  the  rhilaiitliropist,  ami  —  not  tho  inemorv.  but  the  long  life  of 
the  kindred  spirit  who  has  this  day  embalmed  tiicm  all." 


1 


13 


fiirtlicr,  l)ut  lioyoiid  my  own  nllottiMl  time,  T  sooyoii  havo  n  mission 
Id  pcrlnrm.  I  ioolx  IVdiii  Tis^'uli  to  the  I'romiscMl  Lund, — you 
must  cuter  upou  it." 


From  Eihcurd  Everetl. 

The  late  Hon.  Ivhvaid  Kvcrctt,  in  iicknowlcdirinnr  Ui,.  receipt 
of  the  t\V()-voluuio  edition  of  Mr.  Suniiicr's  spt;eclies,  piililislird 
several  years  atro,  said  :  — 

"  Their  contents,  most  of  wliich  were  well  known  to  nic  alrea<ly, 
are  anion;/  tlu,'  most  linished  productions  of  their  class  in  our  lan- 
{rua;^c,  —  in  any  lan<,nuige.  I  am  sure  they  will  he  read  and  ad- 
mired, as  long  as  anythiuj,'  En<.dish  or  American  is  reujeudjered." 


From  Chancellor  Kent,  of  Ncir  York. 

Of  Mr.  Sunmer's  speech  on  ''The  Kiuht  of  Search  on  the  Coast 
of  Africa,"  Chancellor  Kent  remarked  in  a  private  letter:  — 

"  I  havo  no  hesitation  in  sul)scril>in;r  to  it  as  entirely  sound, 
lojrical,  and  conclusive.  There  is  no  douht  of  it,  and  the  neatness 
and  elepmce  with  which  it  is  written  ai'c  dclivhil'nl." 

The  same  eminent  authority  reuuuks  of  Mr.  Sunmer's  Oration 
on  "The  Tru(>  Grandeur  of  Nations,"  — 

"  I  think  the  doctrine  is  well  sustained  by  principle,  and  the 
precepts  of  tlie  Gospel.  The  historical  and  classical  illustrations 
are  beautiful  and  apposite,  and  I  cannot  but  thiidc  that  sucdi 
oopfont  and  eloquent  appeals  to  the  heads  and  consciences  of  our 
people,  must  liave  eflect." 

Of  Air.  Sumner's  sketch  of  Hon.  John  Pickering,  Chancellor 
Kent  wrote  :  — 

"  The  biographical  sketch  of  that  extraordinary  scholar  and  man, 
John  Pickering,  is  admirable,  and  most  beautifully  and  eloquently 
drawn." 

Of  Mr.  Sumner's  celebrated  *'  Phi  Beta  Kap[)a  Address,"  he  re- 
marks :  "  I  think  it  to  be  one  of  the  most  splendid  productions,  in 
point  of  diction  and  eloquence,  that  I  have  ever  read." 


a 


\[ 


From  Murlin  Vnn  llnre.n. 

I'rcsnlriit  Van  Iliiix'ii  suid  (^f  the  orutiou  uii  the  ''  Law  of  IIu- 
III ail  I'lo^Tt'ss  " :  — 

"  It  lias,  Ik!  assiiriMl,  allordrd  iiic  flic  lii<rlu'st  satisfaction  to  (itnl 
a  [irodiictioii  aH'ordin^  such  iiicoiitcstalilf  proof  of  tiiu  l(>aniiii<^r  and 
j^rcat  intellect  of  its  author,  —  proceeding''  from  a  j/eiitleiiiaii  who 
lias  estal)lishe(l  the  stron^'cst  claims  t(j  my  admiration  and  res[)L'ct." 


Fnun  Juthje  Stori/. 

Of  Wv.  Sumner's  oratinn  on  "The  True  (Iraiideur  of  Xatioiis," 
JiidLfc  Story  rcinarkccl  in  a  private  letter:  — 

"  It.  is  certainly  a  very  strikiii<r  production,  and  will  fully  sustain 
Mr.  Sumner's  repniatioii  I'orhi^h  talent,  various  reading'',  and  c.Xiict 
scholarship.  There  are  a  jrreat  many  passa^a'S  in  it  which  nn^ 
wi-oii^dit  out  with  an  e.\(piisite  finish,  and  elej;am,'(!  of  diction,  an'd 

classical  style In  many  parts  of  the  discourse  I  havcliceii 

struck  with  the  strong,'  resemhlaiice  which  it  bears  to  the  niunly, 
moral  enthusiasm  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh." 


From  William  Jay. 

T  have  just  rncoivcd  your  very  acceptable  present,  ■ — aereptable 
from  my  esteem  for  the  writer  and  I'or  tluj  great  truths  contained 
in  the  volume.^,  ex[)r(!.'<.sed  with  the  ele^ranee  of  the  scholar  and 
the  fearless  inlcLrrity  of  the  Christian,  When  callecl  to  accijunt 
for  the  u.'^e  you  have  made  of  the  talents  intrusted  to  you,  these 
volumes  will  testii'y  that  you  have  labored  to  do  good  in  your  day 
and  generation. 


In  this  connection  the  estimate  enferlainc'I  of  Mr.  Sumner  hi/  fend- 
ing men  in  England,  will  he  of  interest.  From  the  great  multitude 
of  .similar  opinions,  the  following  are  .selected :  — 

From  the  Edinhurgh  Journal. 

Mr.  Sumner's  lectnres  are  not  ordinary  ad(lres.<;es,  —  they  remind 
ns  rather  of  the  orations  of  Demosthenes,  of  times  when  men  of 
note,  endowed  with  the  highest  understanding,  gave  full  vent  to 
the  feelings  that  possessed  them,  and  stirred  their  country  with  a 
fiTvid  elo(pience  which  Avas  all  the  more  impressive  because   it 


b 


in 


rcliiti'd  to  till'  |>(  litii'al  cirfiuii^laiiccs   in  which    their  coniitry  \v:m 
phiccil. 

We  Imvc  ill  mir  possession  tiimiy  of  Afr.  Suniticr's  ppcfchcs,  jind 
\vc  coiiU'SH  that,  lor  ilcplli  and  acciiiai'y  of  thoii<,dit,  lor  I'liliH'ss  of 
historical  inrorniatioii,  and  liir  a  species  (»!'  jrijraiitic  tnoiahty  which 
treads  all  sophistry  under  loot,  and  rushes  at  once  to  the  liyht  coii- 
chisioii,  we  know  not  a  siii^if  orator,  speaUiii^r  the  JMi'.dish  loti^nie, 
who  r'ini<s  as  his  superior.  lie  eoniliines,  to  a  reinarkaliie  extent, 
the  peeiiiiar  I'eatures  ol'  our  Hritisli  Kliiaiieipatioliists,  tiie  persever- 
ance of  ( iianville  Shaipe,  llie  i\liowled;,re  of  llroutfhaili,  tiie  eiitiiu- 
siasni  of  Willierllirce,  and  a  eoiii'a|xe,  whicli,  as  he  is  still  a  yoiiiij^'' 
man,  may  he  expected  to  tell  poweifully  oil  the  destinies  of  the 
lvt'pul»lic. 


From  lilrhird  Colxhn. 
You  liave  madtj  the  most  iiohle  coiilrihution  of  any  modern 


writer,  to  the  cause 


of  I'eaee 


From  tht  London  Examiner. 
We  Would  recomineiid  a  close  and  earnest  study  of  the  speech 
on  the  Fu^^dtive  Slave  Act,  made  liy  Mr.  Charles  Si. inner  in  the 
Senate  of  the  I'liited  Slates  on  the  'Jdth  of  last  .\u;i-ust  (lS.")L*). 
That  speech  will  reward  |ieriisiil.  .\pail  from  its  iiohle  and 
clVective  ehxpieiice,  it  Is  out;  of  the  closest  and  most  convinciii<( 
ar^'uments  we  have  ever  read  on  the  f)olicy  of  the  earlier  and 
^reatc  r,  as  contrasted  with  that  of  the  later  and  meaner,  statt.'smeu 
of  America. 


From  a  Letter  of  Lord  Shnfteshunf  to  the  L^ondon  Times. 

Lot  us  fjik(!  a  few  linos  descriptive  of  the  terrilile  enactment 
from  the  speech  of  the  Hon.  Charles  Sumner,  f)ne  of  those  ]»ow- 
erful  intellects  and  noble  hearts  that  have  slione  so  lirijrhtly  in  our 

.sister  country,  in   the   Senate   of  the  rnited  States What 

nol)le  elociueiico!  Carry  these  words,  sir,  by  the  vehicle!  of  your 
almost  nniver.sal  paper  to  the  pres.s  of  every  country,  and  to  the 
lieart  of  every  human  lieinf; —  man,  woman,  or  (.'hild  —  who  has 
ever  Inward  the  divine  rule,  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  unto  you,  do  yo  even  so  to  them." 


16 


i 


From  the  Poet,  Samuel  Rogers. 

In  a  letter   to  the   author,  tli(3  i)oet,  Siuiiuel   Rogers,  wrote: 

"  What  can  I  say  to  you  in  return  for  your  admirable  oration  ? 

('The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations.')     I  can  only  say  with  Avhat 

pleasure  I  have  read  it,  and  how  truly  every  pulse  of  my  heart 

beats  in  accordaiuit;  with  yours  on  the  subject Again  and 

again  must  I  thank  you." 

From  Lord  Carlisle. 

Lord  Carlisle  in  his  preface  to  an  English  edition  of  *'  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin,"  in  some  pleasant  reminiscences  of  interviews  with 
"  my  own  most  valued  friend,  Mr.  Charles  Sumner,"  remarks :  — 

"And  now  while  I  hav(!  been  writing  these  lines,  I  have  re- 
ceived the  speech  he  has  lately  delivered  in  Congress  on  the  bear- 
ings of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  Avhich  by  the  closeness  of  its 
logic,  and  the  masculine  vigor  of  its  eloquence,  proves  to  me  how 
all  the  perfections  of  his  mind  have  grovvn  up  to,  and  been  diluted 
with  the  inspiration  of  the  cause  which  he  has  now  made  his  own. 


From  Chambers's  Edinburgh  Journal. 

The  oration  ("  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations  ")  of  Mr.  Sumner, 
for  taste,  eloquence,  and  scholarship,  as  well  as  for  fearless  intre- 
pidity, has  been  rarely  equalled  in  modern  harangues. 


From  the  London  Quarterly  Review. 

lie  presents  in  his  own  person  a  decisive  proof  that  an  Ameri- 
can gentleman,  without  official  rank  or  wide-spread  reputation,  by 
dint  of  courtesy,  candor,  an  entire  absence  of  pretension,  an  ap- 
preciative spirit,  and  a  cultivated  mind,  may  be  received  on  a  per- 
fect footing  of  equality  in  the  best  circles,  social,  political,  and 
intellectual,  which,  be  it  observed,  are  hopelessly  inaccessible  to 
the  itinerant  "ote-taker  who  never  gets  beyond  the  outskirts  of 
the  show-houses. 


